Eight Bristol counters for a good coffee and a better pastry

A plain croissant at Hart’s Bakery costs £2.90, takes three days to make, and comes out of the oven in a railway arch under Temple Meads just before the doors open at 7am. Get there early on a Saturday. In January the Best Coffee Shops in the UK ranking put four Bristol cafés in its 2026 list of 44, as many as Manchester and second only to London, and the city’s bakers are just as particular: one mills its own flour, one has won Britain’s Best Loaf.

How we chose: the Best Coffee Shops in the UK 2026 list, Visit Bristol’s September 2026 bakery guide, and prices and hours from each counter’s own site.

The bakeries

Hart’s Bakery

The Hart’s team laminates its pastry with cultured butter from the Edinburgh Butter Company, and everything is baked, shaped and sold in one open arch. The almond croissant (£3.40) is the order, with a white sourdough (£4.20) to take home. Coffee is a seasonal single-origin espresso from Extract, roasted in Bristol, and the milk comes in reusable steel churns from Bruton Dairy. You can pre-order online for collection. Temple Meads arches · croissant £2.90 · Tue–Sat 7am–3pm · walk-in

Farro

Farro is a bakery and a small city mill: it stone-mills its own flour from grain grown mostly by South West farmers, so the bran and germ stay in. Its pastries built its name at markets before the St Pauls shop opened, and it still sells at the Saturday farmers’ market on Whiteladies Road, 9am to 1pm. Buy a loaf made with that fresh-milled flour, and a flaky pastry for the walk home. Brunswick Square, St Pauls · fresh-milled loaves · closed Mon · walk-in

Joe’s Bakery

On Gloucester Road since the late 19th century, Joe’s won British Baker’s Britain’s Best Loaf competition in 2021, and Visit Bristol calls it the city’s oldest working bakery. Buy a sourdough, or the cruffin, a croissant-muffin cross filled with jam from the Bishopston Supper Club. A second counter, Joe’s at the Breadstore, is at number 45. Gloucester Road, Bishopston · sourdough loaves · closed Sun · walk-in

Pinkmans

The sourdough doughnut is the Pinkmans signature, and the bakery now runs five cafés across Bristol, one of them inside the Cathedral. The Stokes Croft branch does a full brunch: the Pinkmans Plate is £15.90, and the brioche French toast with berry compote (£9.90) is the chef’s own pick. The coffee is from Yallah in Cornwall. Stokes Croft · Pinkmans Plate £15.90 · walk-in

The coffee

Greytone Coffee

Greytone roasts its own beans and pours them at Dean Street Works in St Pauls, and it is one of the four Bristol names on the Best Coffee Shops list. Current releases include a washed Pink Bourbon from Santa Elena in Colombia (£16 a bag); ask which is on filter that day. Closed on Tuesdays. Dean Street, St Pauls · beans from £14 a bag · closed Tue · walk-in

Sweven

Aga and Jimmy Dimitrov opened Sweven on North Street in December 2019; Jimmy had competed as a barista, and Aga bakes the cakes. It rotates beans from guest roasters, so order a filter and ask where it is from. It made the 2026 Best Coffee Shops list, and it is the only one of the four south of the river. North Street, Bedminster · guest roasters on filter · walk-in

Dareshack

Dareshack is a 4,000 sq ft coffee bar and studio in the Vintry Building on Wine Street, a minute from St Nicholas Market, with art exhibitions on the walls. It is the most central of the four on the national list and the one with room to sit for an hour. Open from 7.30am on weekdays. Wine Street, Old City · coffee bar and studio · opens 9am Sat–Sun · walk-in

Wogan Coffee

Wogan has roasted coffee in Bristol since 1970 and is now in its third family generation; the roastery’s brew bar and shop at Bourbon House in St Jude’s made the 2026 national list. Order a brew from the roastery’s current single origin, and buy the beans on the way out. Clement Street, St Jude’s · beans roasted in Bristol · walk-in

Checked October 2026.