Have you ever noticed how a lot of the action in TV shows takes place in the local café? Many light entertainment programmes, from soaps to sitcoms, have a café or coffee shop which is the hub of the community.
Providing a great setting for characters, there are plenty of meaningful chats taking place over a drink in intimate and comfortable surroundings. Research even suggests sitcom coffee shops have even helped to revive café culture in the UK.
1. Bridge Street Café - Eastenders
Bridge Street Café in long-running BBC soap Eastenders dates back almost 40 years, with owner Ali Osman playing an integral role in the show’s first episode on 19th February 1985. Together with his wife Sue, he ran Al’s Café until 1989, but he lost their business after running up huge gambling debts. The café was bought by rising entrepreneur Ian Beale, who renamed it Bridge Street Café.
Various iconic characters have been the proprietor at some point including Kathy Beale, Pauline Fowler, Frank Butcher and Phil Mitchell.
There have been two explosions, the first in 2009, when “Nasty” Nick Cotton, a prolific criminal, took several people hostage, but didn’t notice the gas cooker had caught fire. Amazingly, everyone survived.
In November 2023, Kathy’s new husband, Tom “Rocky” Cotton, a gambling addict, set the premises alight for the insurance money, causing another explosion. Once again, the cast and café survived to fight another day.
2. Café Main Street - Emmerdale
Rival ITV soap Emmerdale, which began on 16th October 1972, has set many plots in Café Main Street. The building first appeared on screen in 1973 as the Beckindale Village Shop, with the café opening much later in 2011.
The shop was severely damaged following an arson attack on 13th January 2011. The blaze and explosion killed owner Viv Hope and villager Terry Woods, who was trying to rescue her. Her widower, Bob Hope, reopened the premises as a café and later married Brenda Walker, who helped him run it. However, they struggled financially after Bob secretly took money from their joint account in 2015 to fund his daughter’s shop.
3. Roy’s Rolls - Coronation Street
A local café has been a feature of ITV soap Coronation Street since 1978, originally being based on Rosamund Street, Weatherfield, when it was called Dawson’s Cafe and the owner was baker Joe Dawson.
In 1980, it became truckers’ rest, Jim’s Café, after being bought by Jim Sedgewick, who ran it until 1999. Eccentric Roy Cropper bought the business and moved to new Victoria Street premises, renaming it Roy’s Rolls. A waterpipe burst just before his new café even opened, flooding the premises.
In April 1999, he married fiancé Hayley Patterson, but a vindictive neighbour leaked the fact she was transgender to the newspapers, in an era when this was less socially accepted.
Following Hayley’s death, Roy carried on running Roy’s Rolls, but in 2024 was wrongly charged with murdering his former waitress, Lauren Bolton. Despite being cleared, the stress caused a heart attack, although eventually he recovered.
4. Central Perk - Friends
Central Perk in New York City's Greenwich Village was the scene of many social gatherings in the US sitcom Friends between 1994 and 2004. An ongoing storyline was manager Gunther’s unrequited love for Rachel Green, who was a waitress there until 1997.
The six friends in the title - Rachel, Monica, Ross, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey - spent much of their leisure time there. Phoebe even performed gigs for customers, including her famous song, Smelly Cat.
After the show finished, a replica of Central Perk operated on Broadwick Street in London in 2009, serving coffee and featuring Friends props and memorabilia. There were also Central Perk themed cafés in Liverpool and Beijing, China.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show in 2019, toy manufacturer LEGO released a special replica set, which included the seating area, counter and stage area.
5. Sid’s Café - Only Fools and Horses
Sid’s Café featured in iconic BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, making its first appearance on 21st October 1982. It had been run by Sid Robertson since the 1960s and was a “greasy spoon” selling fry-ups.
Always busy, despite being unhygienic, the clientele included truckers, labourers and other locals, such as Del and Rodney Trotter. Sid’s filthy apron was always covered in food and grease, earning him the nickname the “Peckham Poisoner”. He finally left the café in 2001 to become landlord of the local pub The Nag’s Head.
In 2014, football icon David Beckham visited Sid’s Café, where he met Del Boy and Rodney, in a special fundraising sketch for Red Nose Day. A fan of the show, Beckham admitted it was “nerve-wracking” meeting actors David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst.
Café hygiene supplies
Sid’s Café in particular is a good example of how NOT to run a café, as his understanding of hygiene is, well, none existent! Cooking and serving food to the public requires the highest standard of café hygiene to minimise food poisoning risks. Employees should wear vinyl gloves when handling food, from counter staff serving snacks to kitchen workers preparing raw meats and most things in between.
With the festive season approaching, cafés are entering their most hectic couple of months: Christmas shoppers will probably stop by a café to refuel! Hospitality workers should stock up on vital supplies for their café or coffee shop, as preparation is the key to managing the increased customer flow and keeping operations running smoothly at what could be the most lucrative time of year.
© stephen searle / Alamy Stock Photo