Ace Café London

Love it! What an iconic place. Staff was friendly. Food cheap. I even help the girl fixed the computer register in the gift shop. didn’t get a discount but hey we both laugh. They need to update the hoodies though. The girl at the register had one that was a little older. Now that was a really cool one. They need to make that one a standard stock one. Great experience for a motorcycle enthusiast.

Was fortunate enough to receive a guided tour with Mark, who’s an awesome piece of living history himself. Every night, it seemed, they had something different going on, so if you’re a gearhead, Ace Café is mandatory.

Went two weeks ago while on vacation. Breakfast was great. Good burgers and the nachos where so good!

Great Café with a lot of history. Highly recommended if you’re in the area or ride a bike.

The best full English brekkie I’ve had in a long time and big servings too. Kept me filled up till dinner time. The history also makes this place special.

Diner à l’américaine pas cher avec de la musique rock, de la bière et des bikers où on mange bien pour pas cher!
Un endroit magique!

This place is truly an iconic piece of history! We came here from the states not knowing a soul and were welcomed into this establishment like we were old friends! We even got a history lesson and tour around the place by the owner the man who started it all! We made some great friends here and had some delicious diner food and danced to rockabilly music all night! Can’t wait to come back and visit again! Thank you Ace Café for giving us the best time!

Myself and two friends from the United States rent motorcycles every year (from Guildford Harley Davidson) and come to the UK and get lost for 10 days. Even though you people drive on the wrong side of the road — we still have a great time. People are fantastic! Last summer we had the opportunity of visiting Ace Café AFTER we returned our bikes — so we showed up in a four-​wheeler, but still had an excellent time! The parking lot was full of old and new bikes of all makes, models and sizes, Everyone was friendly and I loved talking to the folks who were just hanging out and got a chuckle out of my accent (I didn’t know Americans had accents). Food was typical old-​style «on the road» food. But, you don’t come here to eat — you come here to socialize and watch kids pop wheelies on 1,000 cc Kawasaki’s. We will be back in September.
Jim
Fredericksburg, Virginia (USA)

Like Sean D. underneath me says– «To the bikers, Ace café is Mecca” — and that’s the truth!
Last time I was there I was representing my roller derby league (London Rockin’ Rollers) at the Ace Café Reunion. I had so much fun! Everybody was so welcoming and friendly.
Lots of bikers and cool bikes/​cars, cool gigs and cool people. The food is delicious-​especially the chilly chips– and the portions are ginormous… obviously, for the big, hungry bikers!
Love it.

A decent spot to have a quick breakfast or lunch in Wembley. The place may be packed during the rush hours but it’s definitely worth it. You won’t be disappointed.

Outside of the US, the Ace Café is the most famous biker hangout and any self respecting biker in the UK has paid this place a visit. To the biker, this is Mecca.
On a busy part of the North Circular, the Ace Café has a steady loyal clientele of a mixture of bikers, petrolheads (gearheads), police officers and the general public. It has always been known as a true biker café, a meeting place for the start or end of epic road trips or simply a place to come to have a quick meal or drink on your way through.
People come from far and wide to attend events here for both bikes and cars and this is place is heavily featured or referenced in many TV shows. Don’t be surprised to see a celeb or two here at any time be it for an event or just passing the time.
The café is styled as a mixture of a 50’s diner and an old biker bar. While the general theme of the place is very authentic it is let down by the 1970’s school furniture of black plastic chairs and wooden desk looking tables. A major plus is the fantastic authentic jukebox with a large selection of Rock N’ Roll songs!
I’ve eaten here many times and while the food is given in large portions and reasonably priced it is let down by the service, a popular complaint with most people who frequent the joint.
For £1 you can get a large mug of tea or coffee which is perfect if you’re passing by and want to come in and relax for a bit.
Overall, this is a place you go to meet like minded people and have a meal or a drink and chat about your common passion for cars and bikes. My brother is a biker and practically lives here!

5 stars? But… But…
Truth be told, if this wasn’t the Ace Café I’d probably only give it 1 or 2 stars.
Why 5? Because its part of our heritage! It can’t have anything less than 5 stars on principle!
The Ace Café is London’s original biker café. It serves biker food (read rubbish full breakfasts, greasy café stuff, and cups of tea in proper mugs). But it’s worse, because they hold special theme nights like Harley Davidson or BMW (for cars as well as bikes) and you get stupid kids trying to wheelie their scooters outside.
I can’t even call it petrol head heaven. I think that title is more suited to somewhere like Silverstone.
But you just get caught up in the atmosphere. You don’t go there for the food or the coffee. You go there for the like minded folk you’ll meet, the custom car and bike show with constantly changing exhibits that are driven there by their enthusiastic owners, and simply because there’s nowhere else to go in London that’s as car and bike friendly as the Ace Café.

Amazing, traditional greasy spoon food. Great atmosphere. Unless you’re part of one of the many marque days, plan to park on the road. Police, bikers, motor heads and kids mix to make a great Sunday morning brekkie.

Simple, straightforward menu. Fast and efficient service. Good food and fun atmosphere. Can’t ask for more on a Saturday morning. Especially when you weren’t expecting it!
We wandered past last weekend and as we hadn’t eaten any breakfast, we chanced inside. It was a good choice. We had the English breakfast (the really big one, with everything on the plate) and I had a hamburger, just because I could (it *was* nearly 12pm…). The food arrive pretty quickly, and hit the hunger spot.
More interesting is the décor — a cross between a motor-enthusiast’s shrine and an American diner. Not being a motorcycle or car enthusiast, I was way more interested in the jukebox. If it had been later in the day, I definitely would have parted with some cash for a good tune!
Worth popping in for a quick bite if you are in the neighbourhood.

Great place to hang out with your mates and have a proper English Breakfast! Weekends are also a blast, especially when the café racers are out in force.

Si vas a Londres y te gustan las motos, seguramente no es necesario que te hable de este lugar, pero si no conoces su relevancia en el mundo del motor y particularmente en el de las dos ruedas, voy a intentar explicarlo…
Si existen las motos «Café Racer», es gracias a este histórico Café, de las afueras de Londres.
Hablamos de los años 40, 50, 60… Una época de Rockers, de Mods… que rivalizaban, a pesar de sus escasos medios, con sus motos de serie, modificadas en modestos talleres, con sus propias herramientas, con las que competían en la carretera próxima: North Circular Road, que se cobró no pocas víctimas.
La historia de este local, no tiene desperdicio. En el interior, recortes de prensa, fotos y carteles abarrotan las paredes y es punto de reunión para los moteros británicos, o cualquiera que esté en ruta por aquellos lares.
Todas las semanas organizan algún evento relacionado con los coches o motos, el tunning, customización de motos, clásicas…
El día que lo visité, ví varias Royal Enfield, BMW antiguas, BSO, Indian, una Harley-​Davidson de los años 20, en perfecto estado y lo que más me llamó la atención fué un señor muy mayor que apenas podía caminar con su bastón, que se subió a su vieja Triumph de 1948 y se perdió en el horizonte en cuestión de segundos…

Being a North West London girl by birth the Ace has always been a special place for me, and I visit as often as possible
The food is always good and the atmosphere is friendly and fun, even the rockin music events, bikes and classic cars are a sight to behold, esp on a warm evening when you can sit outside on the provided chairs or the little
low wall.
Only downside is the jukebox could be turned up a little bit, some of the staff find it hard to understand an order and the music kind of gets lost as the sound on band nights is a bit tinny
But still it’s a great place, a bit of history and a little gem for bikers!!!

Always a little too busy, and more pricey than your average fry up, but a good fun atmosphere.

Really love this place! went there on the New Year bank holiday for back to work blues cheering up food and it was perfect. Had a gigantic burger with chips and my companion had an all day breakfast.
No, it’s not fancy and service is brisk (although never rude), but the music is great and although it’s mainly inhabited by bikers/​rock types it’s very friendly from what I could tell. There were a few parents with children there and they seemed to be having a great time!
I’d definitely love to come back and try one of the evening events (especially the Motown night that’s coming up) but alas I do like a drink or two and it’s a bit tricky to reach the Ace Café from where I live without a car. Saying that, I think I might go anyway!

4.5÷5 — First visit:
I went to Ace Café on a Saturday about midday. They were still serving breakfast, so I ordered a vegetarian breakfast — wow, what a treat it was. A big plate with 2 hash browns, a veggie sausage, 2 perfectly fried eggs, a pile of mushrooms, a grilled tomato, a big portion of bubble and squeak (Yum!), baked beans, and 4 halves of well buttered toast. Phew. It was all delicious, and came with a cup of tea to boot for about £6.95 I believe — excellent value for all that grub. My companions had a veggie burger which looked decent, and a mushroom omelette with chips which did what it said on the tin. I think I made the best choice by far so I highly recommend the breakfasts.
Ace café being a biker café you might expect it to be a bit grim and dingy inside, but actually it is very spacious with high ceilings, the walls are painted light colours and the huge windows make it very bright and airy inside. Everything seemed clean and professional, and the waitresses bustling around did a good job keeping it tidy. This didn’t feel like a greasy spoon operation.
I didn’t see many bikers since apparantly it was a Smart car rally that day. That’s right, the lot was full of Smart cars; I even saw one enthusiast who had a picture of her spotty Smart car embroidered onto the back of her fleece. I guess some people are really into those dinky little vehicles — you learn something new every day…
Oh and the review wouldn’t be complete without saying they played great music, lots of rock n roll, but not too loud so you didn’t need to raise your voice or strain to hear.
Don’t be afraid to hit up Ace because you’re not a biker, it doesn’t feel snobby or exclusive at all, it’s a come-​as-​you-​are kind of place and anyone is welcome. So go get yourself a breakfast there and enjoy the tunes and the people-​watching, you won’t regret it.

Brrrrrm! Brrrrrm!
I like cars and bikes.
Lots of FAST, pimped out cars and bikes. Check!
I like rock and roll.
Über cool rock and roll music. Check!
I like ktisch.
At a glance. Check!
I get hungry and thirsty.
American diner-​come-​bar. Woop woop!

Jedes Jahr im September, Ace Café Reunion, ein absolutes Highlight für jeden Motorradfahrer. Man kann es kaum in Worte fassen, man muss es einfach erleben.

My brother is a motorcyclist fanatic so I ended up going to this café one Sunday afternoon with him some time ago. We got chatting to loads of bikers outside and one girl enthusiastically jumped on her bike to pose for me when she saw I had my camera with me.
The Ace Café is THE motorcycle venue in London.
The great thing about the Ace café is it’s open 24 hours so when you are cruising about on your bike late at night you can always call in here for a coffee and meet some kindred spirits.
The Ace Café website has a great archive of black and white photographs from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, which i love looking at.
It’s all about rock and roll and bikes really.

This place is a legend and not only to the biking community. (you can walk there or go by car). A coffee and greasy spoon time establishment of the old school type. it is an experience!
The Ace Café was built in 1938 as a roadside café to cater
for traffic, particularly hauliers, using the new
North Circular Road, open 24 hours,
the Ace Café soon attracted motorcyclists.
In world war two, the building was badly damaged during an
air raid on the adjacent railway marshalling yards The Ace Café was reopened in temporary accommodation and subsequently rebuilt in 1949.
The post-​war increase in road traffic and advent of the teenage phenomena saw the Ace booming, and with it, the arrival of the Ton-​Up-​Boys. The British motorcycle industry was at its peak, and along came Rock n Roll. Not played on radio stations, initially the only place it could be heard was at fairgrounds or on jukeboxes at transport
became the place to meet, have a meal or cup of tea, arrange runs (often to other cafes or the coast) or simply to mend your bike. People came to listen to the jukebox, many subsequently starting bands or clubs. Some gaining success and considerable reputation.
The Ace Café, with its combination of motorbikes, speed and Rock n Roll was the launchpad for many famous racers and the birthplace for many bands. Johnny Kidd and the Pirates for example.
The riders who met at the Ace had their own sets of rules and codes, neither understood nor recognized by outsiders. Their wild and martial appearance didn’t fit within conventional norms. Their racing, their music and the very distinctive way of expressing themselves frightened polite society and sensational press articles fanned the hysteria for all they could. Government officials often discussed counter-​measures to be taken against these youths now known as Rockers.
The café played a leading role in the 1963 Sidney Furie film THE LEATHER BOYS, which starred Rita Tushingham, Colin Campbell and Dudley Sutton, utilising many of the café’s patrons as ‘extras’. Shooting scenes at the Ace Café, Furie, eager to achieve realism, took advice from the local riders. You’d never find an Ace boy wearing them jeans he was told one morning. Furie’s direction and strong performances combined to make The Leather Boys one of the great British films of the sixties.
Rita Tushingham, Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton, and author of the novel, The Leather Boys, Gillian Freeman, were all present for the Grand Reopening in September 2001.
The expansion of the motorway network saw the Ace Café serving
its last egg and chips in 1969.
To mark the 25^th anniversary of the café’s closure, Mark, with friends, formed the organising team for the Reunion and arranged for motorcycle runs to converge at the former Ace Café site on Sunday 4^th September
was estimated that over 12 000 people gathered at the old café site. A film was made, entitled An Ace Day, the official Ace Café Reunion video. With its Rock n Roll soundtrack it has received worldwide critical acclaim.
Finally, after a complete rebuild, September 2001 saw the Grand Opening of the famous bikers haunt.
The Ace Café is back and is here to stay! Bikes, history, photographs and other related memorabilia and a football table.
Opening Hours:
7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Monday to Saturday)
7 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. (Sundays & Bank Holidays)
7 a.m. to 2 a.m. (When operating as Nightclub)
Ace Café London is a unique venue
Facilities are available to cater for film and photo shoots, product launches, small conferences, presentations, business breakfast meets, weddings and other special occasions and celebrations.
For a slice of history it has to be done.