This coffee shop is one of the world’s best — but there’s a problem

While our high streets might be rife with coffee chains like Costa, Pret and Starbucks, the UK is also home to some incredible independent spots.

And if you needed further proof of this, a new ranking of the top 100 best coffee shops in the world has featured two UK businesses.

While none of our own managed to crack into the top 10, or even top 20, one did make it into the top 40, with Workshop in Fitzovia, London, coming in at number 32.

However there’s a big problem with this – the coffee shop is actually closed.

Workshop, which used to be located just off Regent Street, closed its doors for good on Mortimer Street in August 2024.

In a post on social media, they explained: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we announce the permanent closure of our café on Mortimer Street, due to extensive construction work scheduled to begin in September.

‘The work will obstruct our café’s façade, severely impacting foot traffic and sadly, diminishing the quality of your experience serving with us. At Workshop, we value the ritual of brewing and exceptional coffee and feel the heart of what we do would be lost amongst the disruptive nature of the work that is planned. Although a difficult decision, we want to take the opportunity to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us and visited our café over the years. Your patronage has made our time here truly special.’

Fans of the business were devastated by the news, saying it was ‘the end of an era’, ‘their favourite coffee spot’, and ‘such a shame’.

@mightyrashed wrote: ‘Arguably one of the best cafés in the whole of ondon. So sad to see this go and the overall state of the London coffee scene.’

And @ramanmalhotra256 felt similarly, saying: ‘Sorry to hear this. I always enjoyed coming here for a coffee and considered it one of the best coffee shops in London. The staff were particularly exceptional in their knowledge, care, attention to detail and welcoming nature. Will miss you and hope you return soon.’

Despite the closure, the Workshop roastery continues to operate as usual, meaning those that want to try coffee from the 32nd best coffee shop in the world still can.

Workshop products can be purchased online and via wholesale partners such as Fortitude Bakehouse, and Raffles London.

The business also confirmed they woud be looking for a new space that would allow them to ‘develop [their] offering and work even closer with the coffee community’, so watch this space.

Thankfully, this wasn’t the only UK coffee spot on the list though, as Yorks Café also made the cut, ranking at number 75 out of 100.

And the best part? This business has not one but two coffee shops that you can visit.

Yorks is a coffee and brunch bar, located in both Birmingham and Stratford-Upon-Avon, and when it comes to coffee they roast it themselves, offering drinks as well as packs of the stuff to buy and take home.

Prices at the Stratford coffee shop start from £2.50 for an espresso or long black, £2.90 for a flat white or cappuccino and £3 for a batch brew. The menu also features lattes, mochas, a machiatto and piccolo, plus a number of speciality and iced coffees.

And the coffee doesn’t stop there – it’s also been added into bakes, with an espresso cake often on the counter, yum!

In addition to this, you’ll also find a number of breakfast and brunch dishes on the menu, with everything from a Full English, to Turkish eggs, and a lamb kofta breakfast tagine.

The top 100 rating comes almost ten years after Yorks first opened, having started out in 2016.

One other spot closer to home also featured in the top 100, with an Irish coffee shop in Galway being placed at number 39.

This was Coffeewerk + Press, a space which is said to have been created with ‘mindful inttent’ to ’emphasise the meaningful, lived experience of quiet moments amidst the hectic cycle of daily life’.

The business opened its doors in 2015 and is a multi-roaster café that has worked with over 30 local and international coffee roasters who ‘exemplify ethical business practice’.

For those wondering how the 100 coffee shops were selected, the team behind the ranking claimed they have travelled to the ‘most remote places of the planet’ to create the exclusive list. They also say they implemented a ‘robust voting system’ to make the final verdicts.

This sytem included a public vote and the use of an expert panel to evaluate coffee shops. These selection from the public and experts were ‘weighed’, with 30% of the public and 70% of expert opinions making up the final results.

Interestingly, it was an Australian coffee shop that took the top spot on the list. And Australia is clearly the place to go for a good cup of Joe, as it appeared four times in the top 10.

As such, an Australian joint – Toby’s Estate – took top spot, with Gota Coffee Experts taking third place, Proud Mary Coffee in fourth and Coffee Anthology in eighth spot.

Coffee aficionados – maybe it’s time to venture Down Under?

Alternatively, last year a coffee shop in the UK was hailed as one of the ‘world’s greatest’.

Destination expert Chris Moss recently revealed his list of the world’s greatest coffee shops in The Telegraph and coming in third was a small but iconic London establishment.

Bar Italia on Soho’s Frith Streets was given a coveted spot by Chris, following behind Café Américain in Amsterdam, which is known for its arched ceilings, large stained glass windows and Tiffany lighting, and Lisbon’s Pastelaria-Padaria Sao Roque, a hidden gem with huge pink marble columns and gorgeous art nouveau tiles.

Opened in 1949 by Lou and Caterina Polledri, who moved over to London from Northern Italy, the coffee spot is still run by the same family today.

The outside is adorned with bright neon signs, while the inside is somewhat of a time-capsule inside with a ‘beautiful old Gaggia machine’, an old-school red and white Formica bar, ‘wonderfully cluttered ceilings’, football merchandise, and, of course, the Italian flag everywhere.

For Chris, what makes this narrow counter-style café so great is that it reminds people of the West End coffee boom of the 1950s. He adds: ‘It is a shrine to a bohemian Soho that has elsewhere been gentrified into oblivion.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].