If, like most Londoners, you read that headline and immediately want an espresso shot of relevant info, then here it is: Bar Italia’s second branch is in the Outernet building, which is literally around the corner at Tottenham Court Road station. It’s open now, it’s on the ground floor, and its hours are from 10am until around midnight.
And before we dive into the slightly longer, more drawn cappuccino pour of satisfyingly foamy context, we need to acknowledge that this feels like a bit a weird move. Old-school Italy meets a hyper-modern immersive entertainment hub. But it makes sense when you look at it this way: the original Bar Italia thrived because of the vast amount of footfall in Soho, and the Outernet is literally the most popular cultural attraction in the UK, with 72 million visitors last year (mostly because it’s free, and it’s located at one of the busiest tube intersections in the city). Which makes for 72 million potential coffee drinkers. So, without going all Sherlock on everyone, we might have cracked the case.
But it also means that this isn’t a cosy, buzzing hub of a coffee shop either, it’s more akin to a kiosk, surrounded by a busy assemblage of steel & neon. But at the centre of that space is a huge, brand-spaking-new Gaggia coffee machine, powered by their in-house (secret) blend of beans. So you can still get a thoroughly decent cup o’ Joe.
The original Bar Italia has been pipping out hot coffees from its stalwart, old fashioned original Gaggia machine almost 24 hours a day (skipping the unholy void of 4am-7am) for the past 76 years. Parked underneath its bright tractor-beam of a sign on Frith Street, everyone who is anyone – from Jagger, to McCartney, to Harry Styles, to about half of all Londoners – has dropped in to cap off a night in Soho with a hit of caffeine. And what caffeine it is. Decade-in, and decade-out, they’ve consistently been lauded as having some of the finest coffee in the neighbourhood, city, country, and indeed planet.
It was originally opened in the winter of 1949 by Lou & Caterina Polledri. Their grandchildren currently run the place, but are also currently in their sixties, so the younger generation are beginning to hold the reins ever more confidently. Thus, after three quarters of a century, the prospect of opening a second location was finally mooted.
Will it still be here in 75 years? We’ll see.
NOTE: Bar Italia is open at the Outernet now. You can find out more at the Outernet website.
Bar Italia Outernet | Opposite Tottenham Court Road Station, Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 8LH
Fancy a bite? The Arcade food hall is right next door.