Top bikers Cafés you have to check out
Whether you're looking for a bite to eat, a cuppa to warm your frozen hands or a destination for a group of mates to meet at - these are the bikers cafes you can't afford to miss
BIKER CAFES not only provide sustenance and shelter for weary travellers, in the fine weather they become destinations for thousands of bikers up and down the country.
Now, while we love a top 10 here at Visordown, I didn’t think it fair to pit these fine establishments against one another – for the simple reason I haven’t visit them all to be able to make a decision!
So instead here is a comprehensive guide to the places I’ve been to, heard of or ridden past but not had the chance to go into, yet. It gives you and idea of where they are, what they serve and what kind of establishment it is.
Super Sausage Café
Tel: 01908 542964
Location: The A5 between Pottersbury and Paulerspury
Opening hours: 7:30am to 14:30pm
Voted Britain’s best café in 2016 the ‘Sausage has been frying up since the 70’s and is a firm favourite with owners’ groups, charity ride outs and weathered old bike journos. The food is a mix of good honest roadside café breakfasts and light bites.
The Sausage is open all year round only closing for Christmas day and New Year’s day.
Jacks Hill Café
Web: facebook.com/jackshillcafe
Tel: 01327 351350
Location: The A5 just before the A43 roundabout to Silverstone
Opening hours: 7:00am to 8:30pm
With a bike night hosted the first Friday of the month, Jacks hill is a mecca for bike and car enthusiasts thanks to its large roadside parking and outside seating area. The food is proper truck-stop fry-ups (it’s a year-round truck stop too), batches and sarnies. Well worth a stop off if you are heading to the Midlands after a day at Silverstone – just don’t forget the heartburn tablets!
The Ace Café
Web: london.acecafe.com
Tel: 020 8961 1000
Location: North Circular Road, Stonebridge, NW10 7UD
Opening hours: 7:00am to 11:00pm Fri and Sat – 10:30pm rest of week
Some would say this is the biker café that started it all off. Opened in 1938 as a transport café, the Ace closed its doors in 1969 later becoming a tyre fitting centre. With a small bikers’ café sprouting from the side of the building the buzz about the place began to build again, until in 2001 the Ace as we know it took over the whole site.
A regular spot for the thousands of bikers in the south east, the Ace holds regular bike nights covering everything from classics, moderns, modifieds and scooters. If you haven’t been you really should – it’s not everyone’s cup of builder’s tea, but it is the Ace, and that kinda makes it special.
The menu is a mix of brekkies and brunches with burgers, ribs and pub style grub for those not fancying a fry-up.
The Bike Shed
Web: thebikeshed.cc
Tel: 0207 729 8114
Location: 384 Old Street, London. EC1V 9LT
Opening hours:
Thursday 9am–12am
Friday 9am–12am
Saturday 9am–12am
Sunday 9am–12am
Monday 10am–12am
Tuesday 10am–12am
Wednesday 10am–12am
Another venue that divides opinion – is it a biker café, is it a restaurant, art gallery, shop, barbers or tattoo parlour…? Well in short, it’s all of the above. The Bike Shed started out as a custom/café racer website started out by dyed in the wool biker and serial customiser Dutch van Someren. He spotted an opening for a cool, vibrant and inclusive bike joint in the heart of London and the rest as they say, is history.
Some people have this idea that the Bike Shed’s menu is all organic this and gluten free that and, although there are those healthy type of offering available, for the most part it’s big food with big flavours served really well. As with the Ace, it’s not for everyone but, I for one love parking my chubby arse down and drinking a coffee as the bikes ride through the venue and down to the onsite bike parking.
Caffeine & Machine
Tel: 07918 605467
Location: The Houndshill, Banbury Road, Ettington, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 7NS
Opening hours: Open 12pm-11pm weekdays (serving food until 9pm); Open 9.30am-11pm Saturday (serving food until 9pm) and 9.30am – 10.30pm Sunday (serving food until 5pm)
A relative new comer scene, Caffeine & Machine (or C&M to their mates) is a classy place for whiling away an afternoon surround by millions of pounds worth of machinery. They host regular classic car and bike nights as well as more modern focussed meets. An afternoon spent here will see some of the most expensive machinery coming from miles around to sample the coffee, breakfasts and main meals.
There aren’t many other venues you can relax on a button-backed sofa while gazing at a Manx Norton now are there?
It’s quickly building a name for itself among the petrol heads of the midlands and further afield as THE place to go to on a weekend or evening.
Triumph 1902 Café
Tel: 01455 453088
Location: Normandy Way, Hinckley, Leicestershire, LE10 3BZ
Opening hours:
Thursday 10am–4:30pm
Friday 10am–4:30pm
Saturday 10am–4:30pm
Sunday 10am–4:30pm
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 10am–4:30pm
This newly opened café is a nostalgic look at Triumph’s heritage and success in on and off-road racing. The café is part of the Triumph Visitor Experience which includes factory tours and an exhibition that tells the story of Triumph from the beginning right through to modern day.
Hot and cold food are available as are freshly made barista style coffees and teas.
Squires Café Bar
Tel: 01977 684618
Location: Newthorpe Lane, Newthorpe, South Milford, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS25 5LX
Opening hours:
Friday 10am–8pm
Saturday 8am–8pm
Sunday 8am–8pm
Monday 10am–4pm
Tuesday 9am–10pm
Wednesday 9am–10pm
Thursday 9am–10pm
Located on the B122, Squires is a café, bar, restaurant and camp site all rolled into one. The cafe has been a destination for bikers since the fifties moving to its current location in 2002. Squires is also unique in the fact that it has its own indoor ice rink on site.
The food is the usual café fair, breakfasts and brunches, with hot dogs and pub grub available too. The caravan park boasts 32 pitches and a bike and tent can pitch up for just a fiver a night.
The Iron Horse
Web: ironhorseranchhouse.co.uk
Tel: 01778 346952
Location: 2 High Street, Market Deeping, Peterborough. PE6 8EB
Opening hours: Mon – Tues closed. Wed – Sat 10am – 9pm. Sun 10am – 6pm.
Opened in 2008, the Iron Horse brings a big slice of Americana to the sleepy town of Market Deeping, with custom bike nights, live music and even a craft beer club for the pillions.
They host regular live bands and the atmosphere is best described as lively! The food served covers everything from waffles to wings, they even have fried catfish on the menu for a true taste of the deep south – east of England!
The Hungry Highlander
Web: facebook.com/Hungryhighlander
Tel: 01339 741556
Location: 14 Invercauld road, Braemar, AB35 5YP
Opening Hours:
Friday 10am–8pm
Saturday 10am–8pm
Sunday 10am–8pm
Monday 10am–8pm
Tuesday 10am–8pm
Wednesday 10am–8pm
Thursday 10am–8pm
An old-school style road-side diner in the pretty village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire. Located in the centre of the Cairngorms national park, the café is a short ride from Inverness and the pretty resort of Aviemore. The café serves traditional Scottish dishes such as haggis and venison as well as burgers, breakfasts lunches and dinners.
The long Itch Diner
Web: facebook.com/pages/Long-Itch-Diner
Tel: 01926 819096
Location: Southam Rd, Long Itchington, Southam CV47 9QZ
Opening Hours:
Friday 7:30am–3pm
Saturday 7:30am–3pm
Sunday 9am–3pm
Monday 7:30am–3pm
Tuesday 7:30am–3pm
Wednesday 7:30am–3pm
Thursday 7:30am–3pm
A regular destination for bike and car groups, ‘The Itch’ is located a minute walk from the Grand Union Canal just north of Southam. The menu is basic, but the food is excellent and well-priced, and they have loads of room outside if it's too busy inside.
The Traditional Full English breakfast consists of 2 sausages, 2 bacon, an egg, 2 fried bread, 2 black puddings, beans, tomatoes and mushrooms and not forgetting 2 rounds of toast and tea or coffee.
Ryka’s Café
Web: www.rykas.co.uk
Tel: 01306 884454
Location: Box Hill, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6BY
Opening Hours: 8am – 4pm everyday
Ryka’s has been serving the Great British Biking public for about 50 years from its Dorking base. The venue hosts classic and modern bike nights and is a popular start and finish point for large groups who are out to tour the south coast and further afield. Yamaha have even used the café as a venue for it’s Dark Side Tour, allowing customers the chance to try out the bikes in the MT range.
It’s famous for its milkshakes and burgers but has a wide selection of hot and cold food on offer at competitive prices. The location also makes it an ideal spot for walkers and cyclists as it’s just a stone through from the popular walking spot, Box Hill.
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
