The Best Cafes in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom (2025)

Incredible food! Incredible coffee! And incredibly people! Super welcoming and nice. It's our go to local coffee shop :)

Union Coffee is a fantastic addition to Apsley—exactly what the area needed! The coffee is rich and flavourful, and their selection of pastries and cakes is impressive. But what truly sets them apart is the warm, welcoming team who make every visit a pleasure. We’ve made it a Sunday tradition, and it’s genuinely improved our weekends. Highly recommend!

Muy rico todo, gracias! We ordered a sourdough loaf, quiche, bagels and cinnamon rolls, incredible, great quality and very tasty! We especially recommend the quiche!! Thanks again!

We've been coming here for a few months. This review is focused more on the evening service, but I have nothing but good things to say about the coffee, sweet and savoury foods you can try in the day . The evening wine (or cocktail) service is fairly new and we love it. This is what Apsley has needed. It's super friendly, a nice selection of wine , that changes every time we visit. The charcuterie board goes nicely with a glass! highly recommend, oh and they do beer too if wine isn't your thing.

Brilliant local coffee shop. Always friendly, and they serve really lovely quality coffee with options for non milk drinkers (like me!). They had the most delicious mince pies at Christmas too. Aside from really knowing their wines (and coffee!), I saw they've ecently started selling top beers from Tring Brewery too. Another great reason to visit!

Lovely little hidden gem best coffee and good vibes nice out door sitting area

Inside or out, it's a great place for coffee, cake and a chat. The staff are so friendly and a conversation with Morgan is a pick-me-up in itself.

Limited seating takes a star off the atmosphere, but, great coffee and service, and, when I accidentally left my credit card there, they kept it safe and I was able to pick it up the next day. Thanks guys!

Lovely place, really good food options.Good sizes.Add good value for money.Proper cafe with good honest food would recommend it

Brilliant little spot! The staff are super friendly and the service is quick and warm. I had the Sausage and Egg Baguette—loaded with 4 sausages and 2 eggs, and it was absolutely delicious. Great value and a cozy vibe. Easily a 5-star experience. Would 100% recommend.

Amazing food thick bacon spiced sausage, to b out of town and get a cafe like this was a real treat definitely recommended

For a dainty little thing they sure do deliver. Plenty of parking with good variety of shops around including Launderette. I have to say I’m so pleasantly surprised - great value for money and the *portions* oh my goodness so so big!!! Really lovely

This tiny cozy place is one the most welcoming places you will find around here. The staff is so friendly, so gentle, always with a genuine smile on their faces! As a person who can be fussy when it comes to coffee quality, I can say they have the best quality coffee I have ever tasted in Hemel Hempstead! It’s absolutely worth a try if you also appreciate drinking an aromatic, delicious coffee! Ah, they also have a lovely selection of traditional Mediterranean cakes, pastries and sweets! Highly recommended!

Modern and relaxed Greek bakery with good service, comfortable seating and power outlets at each table so great for catch ups with friends, remote work or study. I got a cappuccino and falafel- which were both great and reasonably priced. There’s also a variety of breakfast foods, cakes and drinks including freddo espresso/cappuccino which I’ll definitely be back for! Thanks so much.

This newly opened Greek café is an absolute delight! I tried the mini kantaifi and baklava—both were incredibly fresh, rich, and full of authentic flavor. The coffee is excellent, with a great selection of milks, including soya and oat milk, which is a huge plus. The atmosphere is cozy and welcoming, with plenty of seating and loads of sockets, making it a great spot for remote work or a relaxed catch-up. The staff are friendly and attentive, adding to the overall great experience. If you love quality coffee and delicious Greek pastries, this is definitely the place to visit! Highly recommend!

Great place for a nice coffee/drinks with friends. The baristas are great and make an amazing oat latte, which I am usually very picky about. They also organize events. I never attended, but could easily see myself attending some wine/food evening session. I also appreciate them selling products from other local businesses, as Yvette's chocolates.

Lovely chilled atmosphere! so many different drink options to choose from coffee, tea, wine and soda. They do lovely snack options too, including a cheese board, charcuterie board and pastries from a local Bakery.

Absolutely fantastic place to have a party x lovely cosy venue with wonderful wines and coffees. Stunning range of foods. We held a birthday party here and it was amazing. Claire the owner had arranged a bespoke buffet and the two staff Sol and Charlotte were perfect servers. Very on the ball. If your looking for a nice intimate wine/coffee shop to hold an event you couldn't go wrong with Coffee and Wine . It was perfect.

Brilliant coffee shop with very friendly and helpful staff. Lovely atmosphere to work in. Will return for one of their events which look fantastic. Would recommend to anyone.

Oops, after returning my cup to the counter, I forgot to pay and the owner had to run outside to catch me. He was very nice about my attempt to do a runner without paying for my £3 coffee. I returned, later and bought a cup of tea. This time I took no chances and paid when I ordered, however, the money doesn't seem to have been taken from my card. Good community cafe, early crowd includes workers getting fuelled up for the day, later people from local area.

Gadebridge Cafe offers kind and friendly service, fantastic food, and good value for money. They are now fully open for indoor and outdoor seating. A suggestion for them is to consider offering a delivery service through Uber to increase customer convenience. During the pandemic and while we were shielding, we supported this cafe. Without prejudice, updated review below ⏬️. After placing our small order, we patiently sat waiting. As usual, a very rather large group came in and sat at their reserved table. The group who ordered their food well after our order, then received theirs first, even though we had ordered well before them. Eventually, our meals arrived late. Update number 2. Again without prejudice. Not entirely sure what has occurred but know been a few issues here all thanks to a Karen/Kevin grumbling. Before they opened their mouths, the place used be such a fun lovely and lively hub of a community. *Gone are the days now of sitting down at the outside tables, with locals greeting one and other as they pass. The friendly banter from a lovely server. If want to sit and whilst spending time here and puff (illegal to smoke inside public premises now.) this is no more. Or those who have access issues getting through the door ie. mobility scooter users, large pushchairs etc. that used to happily sit outside, this too is now non existence.* Sadly these days, Community Spirits is not often see as this is slowly fading away for a variety of reasons. We do hope this comes back here, as Gadebridge Cafe was the heart well as soul of the Rossgate community bringing locals alike together, to meet and greet etc. With our child U attending a weekly local club, we often used to sit outside the cafe, giving U space to focus and learn all the while giving U who by the way has SEN, needed reassurance that we are close by plus was another tool to safely teaching them independence skills.

One of our favourite cafes (a lovely lady who does the most amazing coffees' has recently started working here :)!). Everyone is lovely, the food is delicious, the coffee is great and we really enjoy coming here. A hidden gem. The Turkish honey that they sell is delicious.

There are a few good breakfast options in Hemel but the only reason I'd go anywhere other than here is if I'd already been the last 2 days and feel embarrassed to show up 3 in a row! (I know they'd notice because they're nice and friendly and they always remember to put an ice cube in my coffee!) It's great food - generous portions and cooked to perfection every time. It's a fair price and the set breakfasts all include tea or coffee. The place is always clean, the food is always on time, and every table has just the right selection of sauces.

Fresh food quick service friendly owner and good prices

Good food, big portions, friendly staff 👍

Lovely, friendly happy staff. The food is amazing. Even the milk Jug wow what can I say.. the effort they have put into things is outstanding.

Hired Joe's Coffee Shop for my daughters 5th birthday. What a great space especially the soft play! Also paid extra to have the additional room, it was well worth it as we had plenty of space for the children (all 20 of them! 5 and under) to run around. I paid for the finger buffet for 20 kids and there was plenty of food for them and there was a good variety too :). Lucie was really helpful with my questions in arranging the party and Elaina was fab on the day with serving the coffee/tea for the adults and helping set up/clean up. Highly recommend!

My little one love messy play on a Friday. Great coffee and very well priced. This place is a Hidden Gem

Booked with Lucie for my son’s 1st Birthday and just WOW! First time there and we were not disappointed!! Great value for money. The cafe was lovely and do a fab coffee and hot chocolate! Separate from the soft play space which meant adults could take it in turns to keep an eye on the little ones, whilst others enjoyed food/drink. The soft play was a huge hit with the kids. Our guests children were all under 4 and they loved it. Lucie and her mum are so friendly and helpful and made delicious treats for us all. A wonderful space for a small party / celebration. Highly recommend! Thank you so much!

Perfect spot for a little ones birthday! We hosted my son's 2nd birthday and it was great. Lovely coffee for the parents and a great safe space for the kids to play!

Based on the Americano coffee I got it was was of good quality! You can always tell how good a baristas coffee is by trying a black coffee! Very smooth full bodied roast! Overall better then your chain spots. There was selection of cakes and savoury food available also. Always try supporting local businesses and £3 for the coffee it’s very competitive!

Growing up in Hemel, and going to many cafes over the years, Hive is possibly the most welcoming cafe in Hemel. It’s got gorgeous food with the most loveliest people working there.

Possibly a 3.5* if I could however happy to give 4* regardless as would much rather support a local business than have them replaced bt a chain (and this is much better)! Coffee is OK, good even, but far from amazing. It's great that they use locally roasted beans, but just feels like they haven't quite got their brewing/extraction down. Service was really good and they brought the coffee to our table with a friendly face. There was also a gentlemen in a mobility scooter who came and they brough the coffee out to him as he wasn't able to enter the shop due to a step (I read it's not possible to install a ramp as it's a listed building). The shop itself is lovely with lots of plants about and the lights shines through the window in the afternoon where we were sat.

Lovely selection of pastries, highly recommend either the raspberry or pistachio swirls. They also do some of the best matcha around! Staff are always so lovely and friendly!

We had a hot chocolate and a americano, both were absolutely delicious! The blueberry muffin was a bit dry though.

This place does the best sourdough bread ever!. I collect a seeded loaf every week. The sourdough is so soft and flavoursome. I've tried many different kinds but this is the nicest one. It also freezes well.

Been meaning to do this for a while . Popped in for coffee and a pastry . Sat down stairs. Lovely big leather chairs and sofas . With music in the background and a Selection of books to choose from . Coffee and cinnamon pastry delivered to my table as I sat happily reading my chosen book . Friendly staff and great coffee. Will be doing this again soon. Thank you.