Muffler - Ards

Arrived for coffee and cake, soaking wet with 5 other cyclists. Staff couldn’t have been more helpful. No problem with us sitting in their cafe, dripping wet and cold. Coffee and cake are great and then they were happy to mop up after us. Great experience !

So, here I am, wrapped in my linen, my ‘Still Alice’ novel by Lisa Genova sat on my lap, I am unable to keep reading knowing that a business like this is still terrorising my local community. I am sorry to say, but I visited today with my niece and was greeted with friendly staff, all was well, until I ordered a triffle for the child, to my horror, of course, mutton dressed as lamb, a glass of Hartley’s jelly, barely melted, and a cheap Tesco’s whipped cream. If you’re looking for a triffle, you would be better off getting Liz from town to cook it up in her mobile home kitchen, I’m sure she would even pass them in hygiene ratings, even if it was cooked with her feet alone. Distasteful Regards, Cmc xx

This place has gone downhill, went today and ordered a bacon butty, and scrambled for my daughter, it eventually came after over half an hour, and the bacon was mostly fat, the scrambled egg was aweful, and had to ask twice for a cup of tea. the place was freezing, and the 2 staff seemed under real pressure, a couple actually walked out as they were aiting too long and got a refund, the prices are horrendous, £2.40 for a chocolate brownie which was hard, will never be back.

Since i was last here has been taken over by new Manager Peter B not owner but renting! what a major disappointment and the great menu i had on my last visit has disappeared only thing that has increased is the prices! Some of the same friendly staff still there others gone sadly no home baking no specials nothing looked fresh or appealing new manager is not pleasant sits in restaurant and glares at customers seems to have issues with children and speaks rudely to staff customers coffee was cold and food was ...awful burnt cold entire place dull and dirty no wonder 1 star rating very disappointed sad at the demesne of a place which had the makings of a fab place i was afraid to complain as Peter was nasty rude to another customer with an issue

I remembered visiting Mufflers Restaurant one Saturday afternoon when I was exploring this area of County Down with my sister; so having spent a couple of hours browsing inside the Crafty Fox I suggested my husband and I took some time out before moving on.It was a good move. There is an abundance of car parking space to the rear of the Spar shop but until today I didn’t realise that the coffee shop, hardware store and the general store were all linked together. I think during my last visit I must have gained access to Mufflers Restaurant directly via a door into the conservatory? These doors didn’t look open when we arrived so we walked into what appeared to be a hardware store and continued on through hoping to locate the restaurant. We stopped when we reached the grocery store at the front road side having passed through a farm shop area where there were bakery products on sale e.g fresh soda bread, fruit loaf and other equally yummy pastries and cakes. The grocery store offered all sorts of fresh fruit vegetables, dried goods, magazines newspapers along with all other usual items one would expect to find in a local store. But where had the restaurant gone?I hadn’t spotted a door to the right just before the bread buns counter, but thankfully my husband took the lead... and sure enough once through the door the pay counter of the restaurant could be seen straight ahead.Due to the time and the fact that we had missed lunch I took an unusual interest in all on display. Finally hubby chose a scone and coffee the pleasant the waitress offered to heat the scone slightly and told us she would bring it to us when it was ready.It’s unusual unusual for me to to have something sweet when I crave an afternoon coffee but I just had to give in this time. If there are any readers out there with a real passion for tinned cherry pie filling I’m sure they will understand!!! A slightly heated slice with a black coffee were my selection, and having ordered we went through to the conservatory to select a table.The inner part of the restaurant appears to be set out with various nooks and crannies which felt a little claustrophobic for me, but these areas would serve a family or small work groups well.There was only one other party In the conservatory area when we arrived it appeared to be a pre Christmas family get together.... gran, grandpa, mum, dad, daughter (approx. 6 years old), and baby brother who was toddling around (possibly 3 years). The comfortable sofa’s, coffee table and chairs suited the group perfectly we sat at a table for 2 at the opposite end of the rectangular shaped area.I was interested in the paintings drawings displayed around the walls and took time to wander to see them (prices rangefrom £50 £360) and the variety of topics was appreciated.Our beverages snacks were served to us within 5 minutes and we happily tucked in. The cherry was delicious (as expected) and fresh cream was certainly a worthy accompaniment Regretfully the pastry of the tart was so very thin that it couldn’t be tasted (or crunched). Hubby enjoyed his scone and I enjoyed a quick catch up on local N. Ireland news as I read one of a selection of complimentary news papers.The family has left and another couple of ladies had joined us.The cafe was due to close at 5pm, and whilst the girls replaced glasses etc. on the shelves. There were crayons and colouring in available for children, so all in all Mufflers appears to welcome customers of all ages.Sorry I can’t say much more about the food as we didn’t partake!The cleanliness of the restaurant was acceptable throughout and the tables had all been cleared at the time of our visit.