Where students go for coffee on the Cathays campus

With university teaching becoming ever closer to the status quo prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, having almost all lectures, seminars and meetings occurring in-person now, many students will look forward to a morning coffee to help get them ready for that 9am. Whether it is for a caffeine rush to prepare you for university work, or to socialise with your friends afterwards, knowing where to find the perfect coffee place for any situation is a skill that students quickly develop. However, here is a little head start to reassure you about the many options within throwing distance of the university buildings on the Cathays campus, and the personalities of some of the students’ favourites.

Firstly, you won’t find places much closer to the university than within the academic facilities themselves. Several of the university’s buildings have internal cafes, with some being run by fellow students and some being part of larger chains. The Green Shoots Café is one such place in the Main Building, however John Percival and the Centre for Student Life are examples of other buildings within which you can find your caffeine fix. These tend to be part of social areas where you can study or relax with other students, often being used by those in between lectures or those trying to coordinate their latest group project in person. You can also find snacks and light food in most of these places.

In between the university buildings, there are a plethora of other coffee shops, from “Hoffi Coffi”, that can be found at the intersection in between the Arts and Social Sciences Library and the Law Building, to “Metchy’s”, a small café located 50 feet up the road to Lidl. The former of these two is famed for its ideal location for students walking from Cathays into the main campus, with the latter being a more traditional café, where you can sit down and enjoy a variety of food from breakfast to mid-afternoon, occasionally hosting its own jazz nights too. There are also several coffee places slightly further out from the main campus, namely in Cathays, where most students will reside following their first year of study. One such example is “Social Eats”, a small café that specialises in coffee, cakes and brunch.

On the exterior of some university buildings, you will find other cafés to explore, with a “McSims” being located on the ground floor of the student’s union, accompanying its coffee selection with an array of delicious pastries. Other chains such as Costa and Starbucks occupy positions around the university campus, with both being found in the joint Centre for Student Life and SU structures. To conclude, whether you would like a coffee to help kickstart your day, or whether you would rather hang out with friends and maybe get some work done, there is no shortage of coffee shops and cafes surrounding the Cathays campus.