Cafés in Grünerløkka

Getting to Grünerløkka

The Grünerløkka–Torshov tram line runs through the district, and its stops at Olaf Ryes plass and Birkelunden are served by lines 11, 12 and 18.³⁴ Birkelunden is also on bus route 30.⁴ The Akerselva forms the western edge, and VisitOSLO suggests the riverside path past Mathallen and the Blå culture venue for a look at the old brick factories.⁵

Olaf Ryes plass and Birkelunden

Olaf Ryes plass was an open field the city bought from Thorvald Meyer in 1863, named after General Olaf Rye the next year and turned into a park in 1890. A young Edvard Munch lived in one of the buildings around it in 1882–83.³ Birkelunden, further north, was laid out on Meyer’s orders in the 1860s and handed to the city in 1882; its music pavilion dates from 1926.⁴

In 2006 Birkelunden, its school, Paulus Church and fifteen blocks around them were put under rules that forbid visible changes to the streetscape, which the Ministry of the Environment called the first protected urban cultural environment in Norway.⁴ On Sundays the park hosts an outdoor second-hand market.⁵

Tim Wendelboe and Supreme Roastworks

Tim Wendelboe still works from the small shop at Grüners gate 1. The founder chose a side street on purpose, so that guests would know roughly what to expect before they came in, and the bar has sold only coffee from the start: pastries were tried briefly and dropped.⁶ Two carved head silhouettes by the entrance recall the hair salon that used the room before, and since 2019 the company has also grown coffee at Finca El Suelo in Huila, Colombia.⁶

On the main street, at Thorvald Meyers gate 18A, Supreme Roastworks works to the motto “no fuss, just great coffee”. Co-owner Odd-Steinar Tøllefsen won the Norwegian Brewers Cup every year from 2014 to 2017 and the World Brewers Cup in 2015.⁷ Supreme opens daily 10:00–17:00; Tim Wendelboe opens 08:30–18:00 on weekdays and 11:00–17:00 at weekends.

Mathallen and Vulkan

Vulkan is named after Vulkan Jernstøberi, an iron foundry that took over the site in 1873, specialized in steel bridges for railways and roads, and closed at the end of the 1950s. The area was rebuilt for homes, offices and culture between 2009 and 2013.² Mathallen, the food hall, opened in a former foundry hall on 2 October 2012 with just over 30 food shops and eateries, none of them part of a chain.⁸

Solberg & Hansen’s café is at Vulkan 7, open until 20:00 Monday to Saturday, and Bloom & Brew is at Vulkan 28. Vulkan Kaffebar is on Maridalsveien.

Early starts and late nights

Lille Oslo at Markveien 58B opens at 07:00 on weekdays, the earliest start in Grünerløkka, and KaffeLykke on Københavngata opens at 08:00 but closes at 15:00. Kuro Oslo on Rathkes gate stays open until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Around the squares, Haralds Vaffel on Olaf Ryes plass serves waffles until 21:00 every day, vegan ones included, and Cocoa faces Birkelunden from Toftes gate 48, open 10:00–19:00.