Chesters By The River in South Lakeland

We stopped here for lunch on a walk from Ambleside to Elswater. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We were pleasantly surprised by the portion sizes and everything we tried was delicious and fresh. I loved the salads, particularly the cauliflower one. We were so full that we had to get cake to take away, the selection was great and again large portions. You must stop here if you are in the area!

Stopped for a bite to eat and a coffee. The coffee was excellent and the marathon millionaires shortcake was a gooey piece of heaven. Plenty of nice walks to do from here and a good amount of parking, although I hear it's rammed in the summer, which is no surprise. Would definitely recommend.

Best chocolate cake ever!!!This place is a must! Very lovely people working at Chesters by the river and it is a dog friendly place where you can enjoy an amazing cake! All of them looked amazing but the waiters recommend me the chocolate cake. The best one!!We didn't have lunch but everything looked very good.Thank you very much for having us guys!

Super delicious food. We had take away and sat outside on the tables. Plenty of tables to choose from. The cake slices were enormous so we shared and brought the other home with us!

Chesters is a wonderful vegetarian cafe right on a very picturesque river. The variety on the menu is great and the food tastes superb. Very friendly staff and good service. Would definitely recommend this lovely little cafe. Very doggy friendly too which is always a bonus.

Very nice atmosphere and quick service. The chips were nice and the cauliflower salad was flavourful. However, the pizza was a bit too salty and hard to get down.

Visited Chesters with friends for lunch after a long walk. We've visited before so knew we would have to queue especially at peak lunch time on a Sunday but it's worth it.The menu is 99% vegan with just two pizzas with dairy cheese which can be swapped for vegan cheese. Ordered a roast parsnip & miso pizza, smoked chimichurri cauliflower pizza, sweet potato & lentil stew, mac n cheese and two portions of chips. We ordered various drinks including an oat hot chocolate which was to die for according to our friend.The food was fantastic, the sourdough pizza base was top notch and my cauliflower pizza with a garlic tahini cream, almonds and chilli was amazing I demolished every morsel.I love Chesters the food is scrumptious and that's why it's always so busy so there is always a wait. Highly recommended.

Chesters takeaway only gets two stars from me because of the ridiculously high price, at £4.50 for a sausage roll, £4 for a cake and £3 for cup of tea is just far to much! It’s a takeout not a cafe!!! The food is however very very nice, but it’s not nice enough to justify the prices.

This is one of my favourite places in the Lake District. It’s also a great example of how to do good food, really well, for the masses.The take away section at the side of the building does good coffee, lovely food and delicious cakes. They even give you a p-lace top recycle the packaging.The cafe is gorgeous and serves up delicious salads, pizza, cakes and all manner of drinks in a space that is thoughtfully designed and well laid out. The wrap around terrace area is wonderful on dry days and in the summer too.All the food is veggie. And the chefs continually come up with new and tasty versions and recipes.In an area that you often find it hard to find a decent affordable meal that isn’t fish and chips or nasty mass catered stooge, Chester’s is a real gem!

Fabulous location. Quirky veg/vegan menu. Oven fired pizza bases. Chips are superb. Recommended +++