CoffeeRoad
Pelicano
Cheap £2 coffee deals, but beans divide opinion
8.9/10
Local score
No. 9 of 141 cafés on r/brighton, from 78 locals across 57 threads.
75% would send a mate. Mixed reviews lately.
A local mini-chain (Sydney Street, Lewes Road, near the Level) best known for a £2 coffee/latte deal on weekday mornings 8-10am; the spacious Lewes Road branch gets praised for its atmosphere, low lighting and jazz, but also gets so packed with laptop workers that people are turned away despite empty cups sitting around. Opinions split on quality - some call the coffee "fab" and the mocha superb, others found the beans bitter and unimpressive, and there's recurring grumbling that it's owned by the Wolfox group rather than being a true independent.
- Go for
- Quick cheap coffee or laptop work
- Heads up
- Owned by Wolfox chain despite indie coffee vibe
What locals say
We have a lot of very decent coffee places here with well trained and knowledgeable staff…. @33, Bond Street, Milk Shed, Loam, 17 Grams, Ikiagi, Black Mocha , Botanist, Pelicano…..followed by the not top tier but still decent ones such as, Flour Pot, Coho, Bread And Milk, Trading Post (at a push), My Coffee Story, Down to Earth, Dhama……. I could go…
…places get pretty busy around Churchill square during lunchtime. I work on trafalgar street, and I have found the lanes (Sydney street in particular) is fairly quiet around this time of year. Lovely atmosphere too, always feels less chaotic than Churchill square. Trading post, pelicano and flour pot bakery always have seats both inside and out. If that's too far, Bond Street is also a great option, Bond Street bakery, flint owl bakery are nice. People and always coming and going so again, seats shouldn't be an issue! I forgot to mention, but the food/bakery items in the cafes listed above…
…in advance) Best burgers: The Roundhill, Patty & Bun, Vegan Noms or Halo Burger (the last two might be delivery kitchens only) Best Japanese: Moshimo Best Korean: Time For Kimchi or Namul Best Vietnamese: Milk No Sugar Best (and only) Ethiopian: Abyssinia Best coffee: Pelicano or Bond Street Best cake: Black Mocha Best gourmet nonsense: Erpingham House, Terre a Terre or Food for…
…of finalising the sale of the cafe more precisely. It was a lot fun for the nine or so years I did it, and I met some amazing folks, and worked crazy hard, but ultimately I needed a change, a more structured life, and a more reliable income. And I got very bored of seeing Pelicano cups going by, in the hands of people who thought they were supporting local business but couldn't be arsed to actually find out. The new owners of 13 are lovely, have experience of running coffee shops, and they want to keep it as a mostly takeaway cafe, so please support them, and show them as much love…
Ranked from 21,200 r/brighton comments. Summaries are written by AI from what locals said; quotes are word for word. Not affiliated with Reddit. Back to the guide