Brighton Cafes and Coffee Shops: Where to Go

The cafes with the strongest public record in Brighton start with Starfish & Coffee by Queen’s Park, which won Best Cafe in the 2026 public vote for the fifth time. Then come The Flour Pot Bakery, second in that vote; Oeuf in Hove, fourth; and Redroaster on St James’s Street, which has roasted its own coffee for over 25 years. Every entry was checked against the cafe’s own website on 26 October 2026.

We have not visited these cafes for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry sets out what the cafe says about itself and what it publishes about hours, booking, dogs and laptops. It then adds the public record: placings in the Brighton Restaurant Awards (the BRAVOs, a public vote run by Restaurants Brighton) and the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. All 13 hold the top hygiene rating of 5.

The public-vote winners

Starfish & Coffee, Egremont Place, by Queen’s Park

Starfish & Coffee calls itself a “multi-award winning independent neighbourhood cafe”. Former radio presenter Tony Marks founded it in 2017 in premises by the Egremont Gate to Queen’s Park. It won Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs, and its own page lists earlier Best Cafe wins in 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025. Its brunch page names its suppliers: eggs from Mac’s Farm in Ditchling, bread from The Flour Pot and pastries from Fika. Brunch is 9am to 3pm. Last orders are 2pm Monday to Thursday and 2.30pm Friday to Sunday. Bookings are only for people eating from the brunch menu. Laptops are restricted on weekdays and not allowed at weekends. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 19 December 2024). 32 Egremont Place, BN2 0GA, 01273 230635. Our listing.

The Flour Pot Bakery, Sydney Street

The Flour Pot describes itself as “an artisan Brighton bakery, with stores across Brighton, Hove and Worthing”. It has run a wholesale bakery since 2012. Its first shop is at 40 Sydney Street in North Laine. Its locations page also lists shops in Elm Grove, Seven Dials, First Avenue, Fiveways, Portland Road, Hangleton, Kingsway and the King’s Road Arches on the beach. All the coffee is roasted in Brighton by its sister company, The Milk Shed. The bakery came second for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs. Its homepage says the Financial Times named it one of the UK’s 20 best bakeries. Online prices start at £3.20 for a seeded sourdough and £4.15 for an almond croissant. The website does not give shop hours. Hygiene rating 5 at Sydney Street (FSA, 20 August 2024). 40 Sydney Street, BN1 4EP. Our listing for the Elm Grove shop.

Oeuf, Third Avenue, Hove

Oeuf describes itself as a cafe “offering breakfast, brunch, local coffee, local tea, cocktails and wine”, a few steps from the seafront. It came fourth for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs. It seats 65, with outside tables at the front looking towards the sea and a “secret garden” behind. It says its coffee is delivered by bicycle. Breakfast and brunch run 9am to 4pm, seven days a week. Walk-ins are always welcome, or book through the website. Dogs are welcome. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 22 July 2025). 8 Third Avenue, Hove BN3 2PX, 01273 945885. Our listing.

Black Mocha, Gloucester Road

Black Mocha opened in 2014 in North Laine, four minutes from Brighton station. Its name is its signature drink: 70% Madagascan chocolate with espresso. It serves speciality coffee and single-origin chocolate with seasonal food, cakes and savoury snacks, and says it uses compostable or recyclable packaging where it can. It came eighth for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs and tenth for Best Coffee in 2024. On Tuesdays it runs a £12 menu. Open Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, Saturday 8am to 6pm and Sunday 9am to 5.30pm. Walk in or book online. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 13 June 2025). 103 Gloucester Road, BN1 4AP. Our listing.

The roasters’ own cafes

Redroaster, St James’s Street

Redroaster calls its St James’s Street cafe “the UK’s original roastery cafe”. Its cafe page says it has roasted its own beans on the site for more than 24 years. It quotes the New York Times book 36 Hours: 125 Weekends in Europe, which calls it a “go-to destination”. By day it serves coffee and brunch, at weekends it is known for bottomless brunch, and in the evening it serves Thai food and cocktails. It keeps tables for walk-ins but recommends booking at weekends. Groups of seven or more use a separate form. Open Sunday to Thursday 8am to 5pm, and Friday and Saturday 8am to 6pm. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 29 January 2025). 1d St James’s Street, BN2 1RE, 01273 000202. Our listing.

Small Batch, Goldstone Villas, Hove

Small Batch began in 2006 and calls itself “one of the pioneers of speciality coffee in the UK”. Its first coffee shop, on Goldstone Villas next to Hove station, is still its flagship. The roasting now happens at Wellington House in Portslade. The Goldstone Villas page lists it as dog friendly, with free wifi, food and outdoor seating, and laptops welcome. Open Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm, Saturday 8am to 5pm and Sunday 8am to 4pm. It came 13th for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 16 July 2025). 70 Goldstone Villas, Hove BN3 3RU. Our listing.

Pelicano, Sydney Street

Pelicano opened on Sydney Street in North Laine in 2014. It calls itself “Brighton’s pioneers in specialty coffee” and roasts its beans in the city. The Sydney Street page describes the original cafe’s “cosy, rustic charm”. It is dog friendly, with a front terrace, a back garden and two floors “for coffee, meets and laptop works”. It opens every day from 8am. Its other cafes are on Circus Parade, Lewes Road and The Level. Pelicano came fifth for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 22 July 2026). 28 Sydney Street, BN1 4EP.

Trading Post, Kensington Gardens

Trading Post Coffee Roasters has several Brighton coffee houses. Its Kensington Gardens house in North Laine has three floors and a roof garden, where it serves breakfast and brunch with views over North Laine. The shop is open 7.30am to 7pm every day. The kitchen serves 7.30am to 3.30pm on weekdays and 7.30am to 4pm at weekends. Only service dogs are allowed. It came 16th for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 13 June 2025). 40 Kensington Gardens, BN1 4AL. Our listing.

In The Lanes and the city centre

Cafe Coho, Ship Street

Cafe Coho’s Ship Street cafe fills three floors of a Grade II listed building in The Lanes, two minutes’ walk from the beach. Inside, it says, are exposed brick, Victorian church seating and reclaimed wood. Sandwiches and cakes are on the counter all day, and brunch is served 7.30am to 4pm. Open every day 7am to 6.30pm. You do not need to book, and there are tables inside and out. Coho also has cafes in Hove and at Brighton station. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 13 June 2025). 53 Ship Street, BN1 1AF, 01273 747777. Our listing.

Café Domenica, Jubilee Library

Café Domenica is run by the charity Team Domenica, which trains young people with learning disabilities for work. Its cafes page calls them training cafes that are “open to everyone”, and its candidates roast the coffee. The cafe inside Jubilee Library is described as “a calm and peaceful space” for studying, writing or a quiet coffee and cake. It is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. A second cafe at the Plus X Innovation Hub on Lewes Road opens Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 3.30pm. Café Domenica came ninth for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 24 June 2022). Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, BN1 1GE.

Pavilion Gardens Café, Royal Pavilion Gardens

The Pavilion Gardens Café is a family-owned, open-air cafe in the gardens of the Royal Pavilion. Its history page tells how Herbert Tennent ran a refreshment hut by the Palace Pier. In 1940 he was ordered off the seafront as the beach was fortified, and he got permission to put the hut back up in the Pavilion grounds. The present Art Deco building went up in 1950, from a Brighton Art College student’s winning design. Tennent’s grandson David Sewell now runs the cafe with his wife Vanessa. It still sells his homemade rock cakes. Open every day 9am to 5pm, weather permitting. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 11 June 2025). Royal Pavilion Gardens, New Road, BN1 1UG.

Neighbourhood coffee in Hove

44 Poets, Rutland Road

44 Poets opened in 2018, bringing what it calls “Melbourne style community coffee” to Poets’ Corner in Hove. Since 2020 it has roasted its beans in partnership with Craft House Coffee in Sussex. The pastries and cakes come from local suppliers, and beans are on sale to take home. It came second for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs and 11th for Best Cafe in 2026. Open Monday to Saturday 8am to 4pm and Sunday 8.30am to 4pm. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 9 February 2018). 44 Rutland Road, Hove BN3 5FF. Our listing.

Little Bruce Coffee, Portland Road

Little Bruce opened in 2023 in west Hove and describes its coffee as “New Zealand inspired”. It uses Allpress espresso, a roaster that started in New Zealand. The pastries are baked daily, and there are drinks for children. It says it is dog friendly. A free 5km run club leaves the shop at 8.30am every Sunday, open to all paces. It came 15th for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs. Open Monday to Friday 7am to 2pm, and Saturday and Sunday 8am to 2pm. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 11 January 2025). 432b Portland Road, Hove BN3 5SJ. Our listing.

How we chose

This is a list of the cafes people search for, chosen on records anyone can check, not on taste. We started with the 2026 Best Cafe and 2024 Best Coffee results from the Brighton Restaurant Awards, a public vote. Then we added the city’s longest-running names: Redroaster, Small Batch and the Pavilion Gardens Café. We left out Komodo Coffee in Brighton Square, the 2024 Best Coffee winner, and FIKA, third for Best Cafe in 2026, because we could not check their hours and details on a website of their own. Nothing rated below 3 by the Food Standards Agency was considered.

We checked every cafe’s own website on 26 October 2026 for hours, booking rules, dog policies and closure notices. Hygiene ratings come from the FSA register on the same day. Hours change, especially in winter, so check with the cafe before you go.

For somewhere to eat later in the day, see our guides to Brighton restaurants, Brighton pubs and Sunday roasts. For more ideas, see things to do in Brighton and what’s on in Brighton this month. You can also browse every cafe in our Brighton business directory.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@brightontimes.co.uk.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best cafe in Brighton?

In the 2026 Brighton Restaurant Awards (BRAVOs), a public vote, Starfish & Coffee by Queen’s Park was named Best Cafe, its fifth win in that category. The Flour Pot Bakery came second and Oeuf in Hove fourth. In the 2024 Best Coffee vote, 44 Poets in Hove came second and Pelicano fifth.

Which Brighton cafes allow dogs?

On their own websites, Oeuf in Hove says dogs are welcome, Pelicano on Sydney Street and Little Bruce Coffee in Hove say they are dog friendly, and Small Batch on Goldstone Villas lists itself as dog friendly. Trading Post in Kensington Gardens allows service dogs only.

Can I work on a laptop in a Brighton cafe?

Small Batch on Goldstone Villas says laptops are welcome, and Pelicano on Sydney Street says it has two floors for meetings and laptop work. Starfish & Coffee restricts laptops on weekdays and does not allow them at all at weekends.