Photo: Google Maps

Costa Coffee, Casemates Square

CafeMain Street & Town Centre£

A cafe in Main Street & Town Centre that rates below most of Gibraltar, on 101 Tripadvisor reviews.

Gibraltar Index

3.7 / 5

Tripadvisor3.1101

Google3.9350

A weighted blend of both, not an average. How this works

Ratings read 6 September 2026.

Our review

The Casemates branch of Costa Coffee is the chain outlet with the parasol-shaded seats on the square, ordered from kiosks or the counter. It holds 3.1 on Tripadvisor from 101 reviews and 3.9 on Google from 350, which gives an Index of 3.70, on our numbers the weakest of the three Gibraltar branches. The reviews were re-read on 6 September 2026 and the newest are from August.

The coffee itself is rarely the problem. A flat white called excellent, good lattes and croissants, a small cappuccino that came out large, and baristas Candela and Laura named as the best all appear in 2026, and a Czech reviewer paid around £15 for three cappuccinos and a cake. The seats on the square are the reason to choose it.

Service is the problem, and it is a long record. On Tripadvisor, complaints of rude staff, wrong orders and being mocked in Spanish run from 2023 to an August 2026 one-star about a queue for a toilet with no paper and a barista who wanted to argue about it. Google in August 2026 adds two one-stars for a pre-mixed matcha poured from a bottle, no regular milk and no coconut milk, takeaway cups only, no change for euros and toilets out of order, with a German three-star describing overwhelmed staff and a Polish four-star asking for cleaner tables.

Prices draw comment from visitors comparing with Spain a mile away. A five-star posted on Tripadvisor in late August is the text of an AI refusal to rewrite a negative review, not a review, and was discounted.

Come for a familiar coffee with the square in front of you, order something simple and be ready to clear your own table; if the counter is busy, the Main Street branch draws fewer complaints. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has drunk here, and this write-up is built from the reviews.

Written from the Tripadvisor reviews and both platforms' scores on 6 September 2026, not from a meal we ate — nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here. We show the Google rating but have not yet read Google's reviews for the write-up. The recurring themes it draws on are below.

What reviewers consistently say

Our summary of recurring themes across the 31 most recent reviews, written in our own words and read on 6 September 2026. Recent reviews from both platforms are quoted, with attribution, further down.

The terrace on Casemates Square is the reason to pick it.
Coffee is fine when the basics are in stock; Candela and Laura are named as the best baristas.
Rude or overwhelmed staff and wrong orders recur on Tripadvisor from 2023 to August 2026.
August 2026 Google reviews report no regular milk, pre-mixed matcha, takeaway cups only and broken toilets.
Dearer than Spain, and the tables are not always cleared.

What it gets right

Seats under the parasols on the square
Standard Costa coffee on a good day

What it gets wrong

Rude or overwhelmed service is a three-year pattern
Runs out of basics, including milk
Dirty tables and toilet problems in 2026

How it compares

It holds 3.1 out of 5 on Tripadvisor from 101 reviews — well below the Gibraltar median of 4.1 across 106 restaurants with enough reviews to rank, and on a solid body of reviews.

Among comparable places, it is 29 of 30 Cafe options we track, by rating.

It sits at the budget end of Gibraltar's range.

How the Gibraltar Index Score is built

It is not an average of the two. Each source is weighted by how many reviews it carries, then pulled toward the Gibraltar average so a high score from a handful of reviews cannot outrank a strong score from thousands. Costa Coffee, Casemates Square scores 3.1 from 101 on Tripadvisor and 3.9 from 350 on Google, which the model blends to 3.7.

We read the 31 most recent Tripadvisor reviews and summarised what recurs, in our own words; the reviews we drew on are quoted below, attributed to their authors. The Tripadvisor and Google scores are each shown 1:1 as those platforms publish them; the Index Score is ours and the formula is above. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here, so nothing is a first-hand verdict.

Recent reviews

Shown from each platform, attributed to the reviewer. We don't edit them — read the full set at source.

Tripadvisor★★★☆☆3.1· 101

All on Tripadvisor →

2026-08-04
Very Rude Staff !! AVOID 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼
Calle on today and the staff were informed of no toilet paper in the toilets. The staff sees to just want to sell coffees than deal with a queue of customers not being able to wipe themselves at the toilets. So much so the lady making the drinks was trying to get into a heated argument with me because I was informing them of the queue formore →
mark7242 · via Tripadvisor
2026-04-21
Order a little coffee fie here is big enough
A cappuccino on the sunny square in Gibraltar. We ordered a small one but what we got was anything but small. Great quality coffee.more →
628klaasv · via Tripadvisor
2024-07-03
Appalling attitude!
Only here 10 minutes and encountered the rudest staff EVER!!!!! They got an order wrong and we questioned it and they all turned like a pack of wolves! Serious attitude to a simple question! Well guess I’m not visiting again they can stuff it!more →
themerryduo · via Tripadvisor
2023-11-20
Very rude staff
Was over charged for a hot chocolate the girl could hardly speak English and was very unfriendly the manager then came to rectify the overcharged drink with no apology and a bad attitude the hot chocolate was not made fresh and was Luke warm avoid this place and try the other Costa in the Main Street maybe you will get a better service !more →
delzy · via Tripadvisor
2023-11-06
Don’t go here
Frappe was horrible and the service was so bad. There wasn’t coffee in the frappe and when I mentioned it they started yelling something in Spanish.more →
Q8422KSlunam · via Tripadvisor

Google★★★★☆3.9· 350

All on Google →

2026-08-06
Pretty bad pre mixed matcha. They don't have regular milk, no cocnut milk, only takeaway glasses, no change for euros. The staff seemed annoyed. The matcha was shit the atmosphere is shit I wouldn't recommend this place. And the toilets didn't workmore →
m l · via Google
2026-08-06
The staff was really unpleasant. They had no coconut milk for strawberry COCONUT iced matcha latte. They also had no regular milk even tho it's a coffee shop? The matcha was premade and sipped from a bottle that stayed in the fridge for God knows how long. It also tasted really bad. The worst one I've tried. Save yourself the trouble and more →
Ruzica Popovic · via Google
2026-07-27
Hmm, schwer zu sagen , ich geb mal 5 Sterne für das Feeling auf dem großen Platz, geschmacklich gehts und Service war auch ok. Preis Leistung -> Gibraltar halt !more →
Ben Lö · via Google
2026-07-25
Love Costa. Just needed some cleaner tables.more →
Melissa Caswell · via Google
2026-07-24
Candela and Laura best baristasmore →
Personal Sebastian · via Google

Reviews are the opinions of their authors, reproduced from Tripadvisor and Google with attribution and a link to the original. Costa Coffee, Casemates Square did not provide them and Gibraltar Index did not solicit or edit them.