Cafes / Reviews
The Graff Cafe – cafe review
Look behind the counter at The Graff Cafe and you won’t see bags of coffee beans but dozens of spray cans.
There are hessian coffee sacks but these cover the chairs made from wooden pallets – not the most comfortable seating options but then this is most certainly not a typical cafe.
is needed now More than ever
The spray cans are a giveaway. Including one giant can in one corner. The Posca pens too.
The Graff Cafe now forms part of a collaboration between illustration battle and turntablism event Scribble ‘n’ Scratch and graffiti and street art shop The Bench 504.
It’s on the top level of Haymarket Walk, the area between the Bearpit and the bus station which in the last 18 months has seen a remarkable transformation thanks to the arrivals of the likes of Flow (itself in a former graffiti shop) and Sky Kong Kong.
But it’s not all rosy in this corner of town – Mathilda’s Chilli Bar recently announced that they will sadly be closing at the beginning of next year.
The food and drink options at The Graff Cafe currently take up one small part of the counter. There is coffee, tea, freshly squeezed fruit juices and smoothies.
You can also get a bowl of cereal here for £2.50 with Lucky Charms looking like the most popular option so far judging by the quantities left in seven glass Kilner jars.
If the pallets aren’t for you, you can enjoy your bowl of cereal either sat on a battered old sofa covered in graffiti tags or on one of two bar stools in the window looking out onto the walkway below and opposite to Loop.
The Graff Cafe is an intriguing place to while away some time perhaps before catching a bus. It’s one of this year’s most unusual new openings. You might loath street art, but you might love this place.
The Graff Cafe, 3 Haymarket Walk, Bristol, BS1 3LN
07752 114837
Read more: Street artist Silent Hobo has created a two-storey mural of Bristol in Bristol Uni students union