Too Good To Go review: Inside my Magic Bags

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What Too Good To Go is all about

The Too Good To Go app is basically a platform that allows hospitality businesses to sell their surplus food or drink in bundles known as Magic Bags.

The food or drink can be close to or just past expiry (best before rather than use by), or are made fresh that day but cannot be kept overnight.

Basically they’re still good enough to eat, but can’t be sold after the day it’s listed on the app.

Magic Bags are supposed to cost a fraction of what you would normally pay for the contents, and can include everything from leftover pastry and cooked meals to groceries and even alcohol.

There are quite a few chains on there, like Greggs, Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Pret.

You’ll also get supermarkets and cornershops like Spar, M&S, Morrisons and Nisa Local, as well as independent restaurants and cafes.

There’s even the odd caterer and cookery school listing their leftovers.

That’s just what’s around me (within a 3km radius) in central London.

Obviously the range of choice can vary depending on where you are in the country.

I’ve been to tiny villages and opened the app just to see what’s available – and I was surprised to see there were a handful of options with hardly any uptake.

It’s also worth noting that Too Good To Go onboard new food businesses all the time, and some also leave because it’s no longer suitable for them, and so what’s available will change too.

How does the Too Good To Go app work?

Once you’ve downloaded Too Good To Go, you just have to enter your location and distance to see what outlets are around you.

Each outlet will show you how many Magic Bags are available, what you might get inside, how much the Magic Bags are selling for vs what the products are meant to be worth, and when you can collect.

Some places also offer dynamic pricing, where discounts are applied to Magic Bag prices when there aren’t enough people buying them.

If there’s a Magic Bag you like the sound of, you reserve it, pay for it on the app, and then go collect it during the designated collection window.

Some have collection windows throughout the day, but some are late into the night near closing time.

And at the venue, you just have to show them the code on the app to confirm the transaction.

Because of the nature of surplus goods, you don’t know what you’re going to get until you turn up to collect so you might end up with a lot of the same things or things you don’t like.

How do you pay for a Too Good To Go bag?

The Too Good To Go app doesn’t save your payment details – instead, you have to enter it every time you reserve a bag.

You can pay using a credit or debit card, through Google Pay or Apple Pay, and via PayPal.

What do you get in the Magic Bags?

Since 2021, I’ve purchased 44 Magic Bags and it’s been a really mixed bag (no pun intended) in terms of quality and value for money.

Mostly it’s food that you’ll want to eat right away, or freeze, rather than have languishing in the bottom of your fridge for a week.

To give you an idea of what’s inside, here’s a list of my haul from a few different places:

B Bagel Bakery Bar

• I paid: £2.80
• What it’s meant to be worth: £8.40

This was my first try and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and, confusingly, they didn’t have the Magic Bag packed and ready to go.

Instead, I was handed one of their paper bags and told to pick anything I wanted out of the bagels and pastries available, up to the value of £9.

So for £2.80, I ended up with:

• A cream cheese sesame bagel
• Two pain au chocolat
• Two croissants

While the collection process was awkward – and they were really busy – I thought the value was pretty good.

It was actually quite a trek from where I live so I haven’t been back since.

Greggs

• I paid: £2.59
• What it’s meant to be worth: £8

The Magic Bag at Greggs was prepped and ready to go when I got there, which made collection super easy and far less awkward.

For £2.59, I got:

• A ham and cheese baguette
• Two triple chocolate muffins
• Two Belgian buns

I’ve been back a few times, and to a few different branches, and the product mix was pretty similar each time.

Usually I’ll get a baguette, a pastry and either a cookie or a muffin.

One time, the Magic Bag wasn’t ready and I had to wait and the staff let me choose an extra item.

For me personally, Greggs has consistently been the best value option on the app.

Chucs Cafe

• I paid: £4.30
• What it’s meant to be worth: £13

It was quite weird to walk into a sit down restaurant and essentially get a to-go bag. The Magic Bag wasn’t packed and ready, but the staff were able to put it together quickly.

This £4.30 bundle contained:

• Chucs green juice
• Chucs apple juice
• Porchetta and salsa verde sandwich
• Pain au chocolat
• Almond croissant

I thought the amount of food I got was decent. It wasn’t a lot, but it was higher quality.

But the fact that it was a restaurant had put me off returning even though it’s one of the closest places to me.

Bread Ahead

• I paid: £3
• What it’s meant to be worth: £9

Bread Ahead had their Magic Bags lined up and ready to go despite the fact that they were very busy and had a long queue out of the door. I was very impressed.

My Magic Bag included:

• Ginger cake
• Two demi brioche buns
• Doughnut ring
• Wholemeal sourdough loaf

I’ve been back since and the Magic Bags haven’t been as good, so it really depended on what’s not selling that day.

Since then, Bread Ahead has left the app so obviously it didn’t work for them.

Are the Magic Bags worth the money?

I’ve bought dozens of Magic Bags over the last couple of years and my experiences have been really varied.

Most of the places I went to had their Magic Bags ready to go so it was a straightforward collection.

Occasionally I’ve had to explain what I wanted, which made things a bit awkward.

Sometimes people will only know Too Good To Go, and sometimes only Magic Bags so you have to mention both – and saying either one can be a bit of a mouthful.

In terms of value for money, it varied a lot from place to place and even on different visits to the same place.

And it’s always disappointing and a bit off putting when you get a bad one.

Overall, yes they were good value for money, but they’re not the cheapest way to eat.

You’ll get things at a huge discount compared to retail price, but it might be more expensive than getting them at the supermarket, for example.

The collection times can also be inconvenient – after 10pm at night in some cases.

The biggest downside, though, is that there is no choice. So you might end up with something you wouldn’t normally eat or dislike.

This post was originally published in May 2021. It was updated in March 2025.

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