A proper Italian coffee, served the way it's always been — since 1949.
Open Daily7am – 4am
22 Frith StreetSoho, London W1D 4RF
Since 1949The Polledri Family
The Bar
A piece of Soho that never quite closes.
Bar Italia has stood on Frith Street since 1949, when Lou and Caterina Polledri opened its doors. Red-and-white Formica, terrazzo tiles, and a neon sign that's watched over the street for generations — it hasn't needed to change.
The building has its own footnote in history too: it's where John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in 1926, marked by a commemorative plaque on the building. These days it's coffee, not television, that draws the crowd — early risers, late-night regulars, and everyone in between.
Bar Italia has stood at 22 Frith Street since 1949. In the decades since, it has become a Soho landmark and a home from home for London's Italian community, as well as a regular stop for Londoners, musicians, artists and visitors from all over the world.
Plenty of cafés have been refitted beyond recognition. This one hasn't. The busy counter, the coffee-bar buzz, the neon sign and the late nights are all still very much as they were.
1920s – 1930s
From Piacenza to London
Lou and Caterina Polledri left Piacenza, in northern Italy, for London in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s they were running a small café just off Long Acre, serving the porters and traders of Covent Garden's fruit and veg market.
The war years
Keeping the family going
Like many Italians in Britain, Lou was interned on the Isle of Man during the war. Caterina kept the café open on her own through the Blitz, and the family never lost sight of what they were building.
1949
Bar Italia opens
In the winter of 1949, with a £50 loan from a close friend who worked as an ice man, Lou and Caterina took on 22 Frith Street. It quickly became a meeting point for Italians building new lives in post-war London: a place to hear news from home, track down relatives and find work, whether you were an artisan, an ice man, a knife-grinder or a stonecutter.
1950s – 1970s
Soho in full swing
As jazz clubs, rock bands and the mod crowd filled Soho, Bar Italia became the place to end up afterwards. With Ronnie Scott's and other music venues close by, performers and night owls kept the counter busy. In the early 1970s the next generation of the family took over the running of the bar.
1980s
Soho's creative years
Soho was changing, and musicians, filmmakers and writers made the bar their second office. More of the family joined the business, covering days and nights, and Bar Italia began turning up on screen, from music videos to feature films.
1990s – 2000s
A London icon
Bar Italia became a fixture of the capital's café scene. It appeared in Pulp's 1995 song, launched its own Scooter Club in 2002, was named Best Coffee Shop in 2004 and 2005, and won the Love London Award for Best Neighbourhood Coffee Shop in 2009. That same year the family celebrated 60 years on Frith Street.
Today
Generations on
Today the bar is looked after by the Polledri family's third and fourth generations, keeping the original Frith Street café just as regulars know and love it. As the family likes to say, everything must change to stay the same.
The Building
Where television began.
26 January 1926
Before it was a café, 22 Frith Street had already made history. On 26 January 1926, the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave a public demonstration of television at the address.
A century later, in January 2026, a new plaque went up to mark the anniversary, and the Baird Room opened above the café.
Family Stories
Told by the family.
Seven decades of Frith Street, a few of the stories we like telling most.
Open late
Never close before the last customer leaves
For years the bar shut at 9pm. Then the family adopted a new motto: never close before the last customer has left. Bar Italia became the first coffee bar in Soho with a night café licence, and the late hours have been part of its character ever since.
The coffee
A secret worth keeping
The family's recipe is simple to describe and hard to copy: a Gaggia machine, water kept just below boiling, and a secret blend. The blend is the original one, and it has stayed the same for generations, which is a big part of why the coffee tastes the way regulars remember it. Big names have offered sponsorship deals over the years, and the family has politely declined every one to keep it that way.
Calcio
Football, long before satellite TV
Before live matches were easy to find, the results from Italy were phoned through every Sunday and called out across the bar. Videotapes of matches were carried over from Milan to Gatwick. When the TV broke down during the 1982 World Cup final, a neighbour from the Italian restaurant next door lent his own set, so Frith Street could watch Italy win.
A good neighbour
Every picture tells a story
During the war, the Italian sign outside the neighbouring restaurant was taken down for safety. The bar and its neighbours have looked out for each other ever since, and the street still feels like a village.
On the road
Bar Italia Scooter Club
Launched in 2002, the Bar Italia Scooter Club London set off from the café on Sunday nights, a reminder of the Italian and mod roots of the place.
On screen
Soho's creative crowd
In the 1980s the bar became a base for musicians, designers and filmmakers. It appears in the video for Sade's “Smooth Operator”, where Nino Polledri played a gangster alongside a young Antony, and in the 1986 film Absolute Beginners. More recently it was used in Back to Black, the film about Amy Winehouse, who used to visit the bar herself. There have been many more appearances over the years. In the 1990s it starred in an American Express advert, and the family still laughs about the card machine that was needed for the shoot.
Famous faces
Familiar names at the counter
Over the years the bar has welcomed Kylie, Evander Holyfield and David Bowie, and Suggs of Madness gave it a place in his book Disappearing London. Francis Ford Coppola, whose mother's maiden name was Italia, came in with his family. He later sent the family a bottle of wine signed “to famiglia Polledri, enjoy this with your Sunday lunch”.
Look Closer
Little pieces of history.
Come in and look around. A few of the things on the walls and under your feet have stories of their own.
Above the counter
Rocky Marciano
A large poster of the boxing champion Rocky Marciano hangs above the counter. It was given to Nino Polledri, son of the bar's founder, by Marciano's wife after the boxer died in 1969, as a thank-you to the family. Marciano had spent time in London with them, and they fed him home-cooked Italian food. His own boxing gloves are here too, also given to the family as a gift.
Underfoot
The terrazzo floor
The terrazzo floor was laid by the family's Uncle Torino, a relative and a terrazzo specialist, when the bar opened in 1949. Millions of pairs of feet have crossed it since.
Behind the counter
The Gaggia machine
Lou and Caterina made their coffee on one of the first Gaggia machines in the UK, which brought proper Italian espresso to Frith Street. The original ran on gas and has long since been replaced by the electric Gaggia on the counter today, so the bar still makes its coffee the way it always has, on a modern machine.
Since 1949
Red and white Formica
The red and white Formica is part of what makes the bar look the way it does, and some of it is still the original from 1949.
On screen
Sade's “Smooth Operator”
Bar Italia appears in the music video for Sade's “Smooth Operator”, with a young Antony and Nino Polledri in the shot. Nino had been asked to play a gangster.
In song
Pulp's “Bar Italia”
The bar inspired Pulp's 1995 song “Bar Italia”, the closing track on their album Different Class.
In song
Ray Gelato
The singer and saxophonist Ray Gelato wrote his own song called “Bar Italia”, another tribute to the Frith Street counter.
By the front door
Baird's blue plaque
The plaque above the entrance marks the first demonstration of television, given here by John Logie Baird on 26 January 1926. He used the first floor as his workshop in the mid-1920s, and The Times reported on what he had achieved two days later.
Matchday
The home of Italian football in London.
For Italians in London, and for plenty of others, Bar Italia is where you come to watch the Azzurri. Whenever Italy play in a major tournament, the bar becomes the capital's meeting point for fans, and the crowd spills out of the door and across the pavement.
The routine is the same every time: espresso in hand, eyes on the screen, and a lot of singing. Even the early kick-offs at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea drew a full house.
9 July 2006
When Italy beat France on penalties to win a fourth World Cup, Frith Street erupted. Pasta rained down from the upstairs windows like confetti, prosecco was sprayed over the crowd, and the streets were packed with supporters all the way from Soho Square down to Shaftesbury Avenue. It remains one of the great nights in the bar's history.
Frith Street under the bunting, 9 July 2006Looking down from the upstairs windowsA sea of flags outside Bar Italia
July 2021
Italy's victory at the European Championship brought the same scenes back to Soho. Supporters poured onto Frith Street once more, and the bar was at the centre of the party all over again.
Frith Street in the rain after the final, July 2021"It's going to Rome!"
“The best cup of coffee, or damn close to it.”
Anthony Bourdain on Bar Italia
Recognition
Awards and accolades.
A few of the honours Bar Italia has picked up over the years, from five London Lifestyle Awards wins in a row to London's best negroni.
2026
London Lifestyle Awards
Nominated again this year for Best Coffee Shop in London.
2026
A Taste of Europe: The Italian Icons in London
Honoured as one of London's Italian icons in a Time Out campaign with Parmigiano Reggiano, celebrating authentic Italian heritage and its history across the capital.
2026
MICHELIN Guide, Soho
Featured in the MICHELIN Guide's guide to Soho as a neighbourhood institution and a social magnet for Italians.
2025
London Lifestyle Awards
Winner, Best Coffee Shop in London.
2025
Best Negroni in London
Chosen by Time Out, drawing on the picks of cocktail experts.
In the press
The Standard's Top 10 Negronis
Featured in The Standard's round-up of London's best negronis.
2024
London Lifestyle Awards
Winner, Best Coffee Shop in London.
2024
One of the world's most beautiful coffee shops
Named on a Time Out list of the most beautiful coffee shops on earth.
2023
London Lifestyle Awards
Winner, Best Coffee Shop in London.
2022
London Lifestyle Awards
Winner, Best Coffee Shop in London.
2022
Harden's Rated
Recommended in the Harden's London restaurant guide.
2021
Tripexpert Experts' Choice Award
Winner of the Experts' Choice Award from Tripexpert, the travel site built on expert reviews.
2020
London Lifestyle Awards
Winner, Best Coffee Shop in London. Presented in September 2021 because of Covid.
2014
Café Life Awards
Winner.
2011
London Lifestyle Awards
Runner-up, Coffee Shop of the Year.
2010
London Lifestyle Awards
Winner, Coffee Shop of the Year.
In the press
Louis Vuitton City Guide
Featured as a Soho stop in the Louis Vuitton City Guide to London.
2009
Love London Awards
Best Neighbourhood Coffee Shop.
2004 & 2005
Best Coffee Shop
Voted the best coffee shop two years running.
And in song: Pulp's "Bar Italia" appears on their 1995 album Different Class, and Ray Gelato wrote a song of his own called "Bar Italia" too.
Why it matters
More than just an old café.
What sets Bar Italia apart isn't only its age. It's the mix of an Italian immigrant story, a family that has run it from the start, an interior that has barely changed and a place in Soho's cultural life. Even the terrazzo floor is a family affair: it was laid by Torino Polledri, a relative who specialised in terrazzo mosaic.
Few London businesses have held on to their identity so well while everything around them has changed.
2026 marks 77 years of Bar Italia.
Gallery
Life at Bar Italia
The counter, the street and the late nights. Follow us on Instagram for the latest from Frith Street.
Match nights, special evenings and everything coming up on Frith Street.
Kick-off times are UK time and can change, so check @baritaliasoho before you come. We do not take bookings for match nights: it is first come, first served.
Nothing on the calendar right now.
Follow us on Instagram to be the first to hear about match nights and special events.
Whenever Italy play in a major tournament, Bar Italia is where London's Italian fans gather, and the whole of Frith Street joins in. Follow @baritaliasoho to see what we have planned. There are no bookings, so get here early: it is first come, first served.
The nearest Tube stations are Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road, both about a five minute walk. Frith Street runs between Soho Square and Shaftesbury Avenue.
Match nights, events and news from Frith Street. No spam.
Private Hire
Private hire and enquiries
Planning a celebration or a private event? Tell us about it and we will get back to you. (We do not take table bookings. Day to day, it is first come, first served.)
Thank you. We have your message and will be in touch soon.
Join the Team
Work at Bar Italia
We are a family business, and our team is part of that family. If you love hospitality and want to be part of a Soho institution, tell us about yourself. Choose the role you are interested in and we will be in touch when there is a place for you.
Menu
Allergens and dietary information
We want everyone to enjoy their visit.
Please tell us about any allergy or intolerance when you order. Our food is prepared in a kitchen that handles gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, soya, fish and other allergens, so we cannot guarantee any item is completely free of them.
Vegetarian and vegan
Vegetarian dishes are marked (V) on our menu. Ask our team about vegan options.
Full allergen details
For the full allergen information for any dish or drink, please ask a member of the team.
