Cafeography
London

Open late cafés in London

Coffee after 22:00, from Bar Italia's counter to Smithfield's all-night cafés.

Photo: Aleks Marinkovic, Pexels License

Bar Italia has stood at 22 Frith Street in Soho since 1949, when Lou and Caterina Polledri, who had run a café off Long Acre for Covent Garden's market porters, took on the building with a £50 loan.1 They made coffee on one of the first Gaggia machines in Britain, and the bar's own site gives its hours as 07:00–04:00 every day.1

The building had a history before the coffee: John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television at 22 Frith Street on 26 January 1926, and a blue plaque above the door marks it.2 Pulp's 1995 album Different Class ends with a song named after the bar.2

Local tip: When Bar Italia closes at 04:00, Smithfield Cafe on Long Lane in Farringdon is open around the clock; on Friday and Saturday nights the Night Tube runs too.15

Where these cafés are: Soho & Fitzrovia (8), Chelsea, South Kensington & Knightsbridge (6), Marylebone (5), Shoreditch & Hoxton (5), Spitalfields & Whitechapel (5), The City (4), Kennington, Vauxhall & Stockwell (3), Covent Garden & Holborn (3), Hackney & London Fields (3), King's Cross (3), Paddington & Bayswater (3), Clerkenwell & Farringdon (3), South Bank, Borough & Bermondsey (2), St John's Wood, Maida Vale & Kilburn (2), Islington & Angel (2), Peckham & Camberwell (2), Camden, Primrose Hill & Kentish Town (2), Westminster, Victoria & Pimlico (2), Battersea & Nine Elms (1), Mayfair & St James's (1), Elephant & Castle & Walworth (1), Wapping, Shadwell & Limehouse (1), Notting Hill (1), Bloomsbury (1).

At a glance

69Cafés listed
69With opening hours
00:00Earliest opening
05:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: La Forchetta, from 00:00 (Mon–Fri Open 24 hours · Sat 00:00–16:00, 21:00–00:00 · Sun 00:00–07:00, 21:00–00:00).
  • Closes latest: London Night Cafe, until 05:00 (Mon 18:00–03:00 · Tue 22:00–03:00 · Wed–Thu 18:00–03:00 · Fri 18:00–05:00 · Sun 18:00–03:00).
  • Most listed streets: Frith Street (2), Queensway (2), Dean Street (2).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (33%), indoor seating (29%), vegetarian options (23%).
Kennington, Vauxhall & Stockwell

Black salt

  • 26 Vauxhall Street
  • Mon–Wed 10:00–15:00 · Thu–Sat 10:00–15:00, 18:00–22:00 · Sun 11:00–15:00
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report
Shoreditch & Hoxton

Gecko Coffeehouse

  • 49 Bethnal Green Road
  • Mon–Wed 09:00–17:00 · Thu 09:00–17:00, 18:00–22:30 · Fri 09:00–17:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–18:00
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report
Hackney & London Fields

La Mela

  • 25-27 Marsh Hill
  • Mon–Tue 08:00–19:00 · Wed–Sat 08:00–22:00 · Sun 08:00–21:00
  • +44 20 8510 0801
  • Outdoor seating
  • Indoor seating
  • Card payment
  • Vegetarian options
  • Partial wheelchair access
  • Smoke-free indoors
  • Pet-friendly
  • Open late
Map WebsiteIs this you?Report
Chelsea, South Kensington & Knightsbridge

Library Café

  • 7 Imperial College Rd
  • Mon–Thu 08:00–23:00 · Fri 08:00–21:00 · Sat–Sun 10:00–17:00
  • +442075895111
Map FacebookIs this you?Report

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in London.

Why many London cafés close at 23:00

In England, serving hot food or hot drink to the public between 23:00 and 05:00 is late night refreshment, a licensable activity under the Licensing Act 2003, in force since 24 November 2005.3 The cut-off shows in closing times. Balans Soho Society Cafe on Old Compton Street, Chucs Cafe on Old Brompton Road and Trevi Italian Tiramisu on Bute Street all close at 23:00 daily, while Mehmet Efendi 1953 at 81 Edgware Road keeps going until midnight.

Soho after dark

Soho & Fitzrovia has the most late cafés, ahead of Chelsea & South Kensington, then Marylebone, Shoreditch and Spitalfields. Two doors from Bar Italia, Prosecco Café at 26 Frith Street stays open until 23:00 on weekdays and midnight at weekends.

Dessert cafés fill the rest of the map. Cocomelt at 132 Wardour Street serves until 23:00 Monday to Saturday, TSUJIRI Matcha House on Newport Court until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and NO.79 Coffee & Mousse on Dean Street until 22:30 at weekends.

All night by Smithfield Market

The 24-hour cafés sit around Smithfield, the meat market whose main trading hours run from 04:00 to noon on weekdays.4 Smithfield Cafe at 59 Long Lane is open 24 hours, and La Forchetta at 92 Cowcross Street runs around the clock Monday to Friday. In the City, Polo Bar at 176 Bishopsgate is also open 24 hours.

The market itself is on borrowed time. In November 2024 the City of London Corporation said Smithfield would close in or after 2028 with no replacement, and in December 2025 it agreed with the Greater London Authority to move the wholesale markets to Albert Island in Newham.4

Late cafés east and west, and getting home

London Night Cafe in the City opens at 18:00 most evenings and closes at 03:00, or 05:00 on Friday nights. Brick Lane Coffee Shop at 47 Brick Lane runs 08:30–23:30 daily, and Chez Elles at 45 Brick Lane opens only in the evening, 17:30–23:30 Tuesday to Saturday. In the west, Dr Power at 37 Queensway opens 06:00–01:00 every day.

For the trip home, the Night Tube runs through Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, plus a section of the Overground's Windrush line.5

Sources

  1. Bar Italia: Our story and visit, Bar Italia Soho, accessed October 2026
  2. Bar Italia, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Licensing Act 2003, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Smithfield, London, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. Night Tube, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse London

Specialty coffee

29 cafés

Outdoor seating

364 cafés

Wi-Fi

123 cafés

Bakery cafés

87 cafés

Brunch

47 cafés

By area: Soho & Fitzrovia Covent Garden & Holborn Clerkenwell & Farringdon Shoreditch & Hoxton The City Spitalfields & Whitechapel Islington & Angel Hackney & London Fields Camden, Primrose Hill & Kentish Town South Bank, Borough & Bermondsey Notting Hill

FAQ

Open late in London: questions

Is Bar Italia in Soho open 24 hours?

Not quite. Bar Italia at 22 Frith Street gives its hours as 07:00–04:00 every day. Lou and Caterina Polledri opened it in 1949 and made coffee on one of the first Gaggia machines in Britain. For coffee between 04:00 and 07:00, Smithfield Cafe on Long Lane in Farringdon is open 24 hours.

Which cafés in London are open 24 hours?

Smithfield Cafe at 59 Long Lane, by Smithfield Market, is open 24 hours, and La Forchetta on Cowcross Street runs around the clock Monday to Friday. Polo Bar at 176 Bishopsgate in the City is also open 24 hours. London Night Cafe opens from 18:00 to 03:00 most nights and until 05:00 on Fridays.

Why do many London cafés close at 23:00?

Under the Licensing Act 2003, selling hot food or hot drink to the public between 23:00 and 05:00 counts as late night refreshment, a licensable activity. Many late cafés close right at that line: Balans on Old Compton Street, Chucs on Old Brompton Road and Trevi Italian Tiramisu on Bute Street all shut at 23:00.

For café owners

Your café deserves better than a pin someone else dropped

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design