Realise Futures - St Lawrence Cafe in Ipswich

Good places we went lunch on Monday with Maria Simon Tania and Sadie

We're always popping in for breakfast or lunch. The staff are so friendly and the food is always lovely. We love that we can buy cakes to take home too.

This is the friendliest place to come for food or drink. The staff that work here are dedicated to their customers. A happy friendly atmosphere, while admiring the large stained glass widows. Lovely homemade food, Jacket patatoes, stew & dumplings all served with a smile.

If you want somewhere reasonably priced to eat In the town this is the place to go food is lovely always fresh ,and freshly prepared.

This is a hidden gem. A medieval church (one of the twelve in town) converted into a huge community style cafe. It is of course a wonderful church in the first place, but has become a wonderful resource for the local community. Nothing fancy here. Order a mug of tea or in my case coffee ☕ and something nice to eat cake 🍰 in my case. Staff work incredibly hard and service is excellent, congratulations to them. I went on a crisp winters day with the sun shining through the church. It feels to me like the church does more of god's work today than it ever did in the past. A quality (as Robert Pirsig would say) experience in the heart of Ipswich!

Really would recommend the beef and dumplings

Great little cafe, good service, food and reasonable prices.

Lovely atmosphere lovely people and food cooked to perfection thats why I keep going...

Great little cafe in the heart of Ipswich set in an old church. Just what you would expect from a community cafe.

I love this place. Staff are always nice and cheerful. Food is good, you have got to try the beef stew and dumplings, absolutely delicious!!! The 'beatitudes' from the Bible are painted around the walls, ideal to read if you are feeling down. Toilets clean Haven't been here for lunch since my grandson started school a few years ago. Nothing has changed, lots of people in there, staff are great. And the beef stew is just as delicious as last time I came. Toilets are clean, but they do need a bit of a tidy up. Oh and they now have an outdoor seating area.

Highly recommended 👌 food is beautifully made, and the service is one of the best in the county.

Really lovely place to go for drinks and coffee. I had the tomato and pepper homemade soup with a cheese scone, delicious 😋

Such great value for money and the staff are always friendly.

Excellent service and such kind staff, will definitely go again soon!

Located in an historic church. Very pleasant

My one and only 'gripe' is the poor lighting. Very dimly lit with only 7 tiny bulbs working on one of the overhead fittings and (approximately) 15+ bulbs blown. This is a shame because the beauty of the converted church in which the cafe is located is almost impossible to see. Other than that, food coffee and staff....brilliant!

Nice place to have something to eat

Excellent food. Friendly, swift service. Highly recommend!

Go here regularly, for lunch and snacks, always busy, which says volumes about the venue. Excellent food and service. Very convenient to access from town center.

Love coming here. Great food. Friendly and helpful staff.

Nice, pleasant town centre place to sit down and have a drink and a bite to eat. Surprised at how busy it gets at lunch time, which is good, but can get noisy as it is a converted church and you feel that you need to talk louder because of all the noise going on. All in all I enjoyed it.

Love this place. Interesting old church to sit and have a drink or food. A good menu and what we've had has always been good and very reasonably priced. A good cause to help out with.

Excellent service always friendly staff

Beautiful place to eat and staff are so welcoming.

Lovely place in the centre of town for a meet up with friends. Friendly staff. Always busy.

A nice converted church, serving good meals and snacks.

Great cheese scones, friendly staff.

I always pop in there for lunch as once l am in there l feel comfortable and relax there and always enjoy eating there too

Great food, great price for a great cause. Whether it's coffee and cake or a meal, I'd recommend it.

I've been to St Lawrences many times and the service, hot drinks and snacks are always good. I'm a satisfied customer and so is my sister. :)

Love coming here. Very friendly staff and the food is excellent. Really interesting location and the fact that it's helping others is a bonus.

I had stew and dumplings and it was luvly. The ex Church surrounding was great, as were the staff. 😀

I ordered ham egg and chips special, egg cooked to perfection , chios lovely and ham was as said gammon .all in all very nice food . Just a shame about the disabled toilet being dirty ,that puts me off alot !!

Lovely snacks, excellent service and very friendly staff.

Good service and excellent food.

A very nice place to eat, very good service and a very good selection of food choices

Good prices. Tasty bacon & brie jacket potato.

Great place for a bite and cuppa. Lovely people and lots of space for disabled or buggies.

Fab cafe run by fab people Great cakes great food Good price

Lovely food made welcome and deffo go again

Awesome place food out of this world n workers so sweet x

Lovely friendly place good food and polite staff

The St Lawrence Cafe is inside the church. It is a lovely cafe with very friendly staff. A good selection of food and cake. The biggest bonus is it has lots of seating. It could benefit from a bit nicer chairs and tables but that won't stop me visiting again.

A wonderful venture that allows handicapped people the opportunity to be a part of a working life that the rest of us all too easily take for granted. It's very well run in a lovely setting, the food and drinks are good and it fully deserves to be supported by everyone. Not only that, but it gives you the opportunity to see campanologists at work!

Lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and very good home cooked meals.

Service was slightly slow but that is a minor cavil for a café based in a lovely church that is an oasis of calm in the middle of busy Ipswich. Food was excellent value and the money goes to a great cause, supporting people with learning difficulties and/or autism. We would come here again.

Great coffee, lovely cakes, excellent value and friendly staff. What more could you want.

Excellent prices. Well set up. Sad that Covid stopped me looking at all the signs on the church walls. This is brilliant and totally appropriate use for a church, may it continue for many years to come. Food was good . .

Good coffee and breakfast, excellent service and Covid Secure

Very friendly and helpful staff. The food is excellent quality and big portions

Could almost be described as a drop in centre without age restrictions although doesn't seem to be used by the under 30s. Generous meals for lunch and the usual sausage rolls, scones etc. Ideal for a meet up when in the town centre. Plenty of seating and on the rare occasion it has been full always been able to share a table. Basically self service but hot meals are delivered to the table. Staffed by supervised young adults with learning difficulties . Fully recommended.

Great coffee and helping disadvantaged people with jobs

I went there for a cup of tea & met my gt neice & her mum.there 1st time iv been in will go again

Always good service and quality.

Great place for a cup of tea and cake absolutely superb

Lovely cafe staff very helpful and friendly

Great atmosphere, good value food.

This is one of the best cafes in Ipswich! The staff are super friendly and the food goes down a treat... especially the cheese scones (be quick though as they go really fast!) If you've not been you should stop by and chill for a bit :)

Nice space, ok food, helps people

Love this cafe, always a happy place to visit with amazing cakes

Lovely clean, spacious cafe. Friendly staff and great value for money

Community cafe operated by Realise Futures. Great value drinks and snacks including freshly brewed coffee and excellent fresh cakes in a unique setting. The beef stew and dumplings is excellent, I highly recommend!

Outstanding service from this community cafe. The beef stew and dumplings were excellent.

Quick service and nice place to have a break

Absolutely love this place it has very friendly and polite staff and the atmosphere is great

Wow love it here I come once a week

Very nice, friendly place with tasty food

Genuine nice place to go. Lovely atmosphere

Wonderful community project, with the added bonus of good value and tasty foods. Enthusiastic staff that cared.

Beautiful church & the staff were very friendly.

Fantastic place had the Lasagne today a new dish was the best I have ever tasted. Had a chat with the Manager and she explained about the company, realise futures well done, I will be back

Popped in for lunch for a first time visit and had the stew and dumplings, have to say one of the best meals I've ever had, cheap and lovely staff working for an excellent cause. Would 100% recommend!!

Nice place for tea and coffee cakes look amazing.

Great place for a light lunch. Super old building. Friendly staff

Great enterprise in a beautiful, peaceful location.

A reused redundant church, it serves coffee and cakes, has clean toilets and is an inclusive employer. It is a feel good place, friendly, comfortable and good value, as well as providing meaningful work for those who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

Cosy little place, go here fkr a coffee with my friend

Beautiful building, great coffee and cakes and lovely staff. Excellent prices and supporting a good cause. Even let you bring a well behaved dog. What's not to like.

Great place to have a quick lunch, great staff, great food and great price!

Gorgeous food reasonably priced lovely atmosphere with friendly and attentive staff

Staff our lovely always make me welcome

Warm and friendly cafe in superb church, and tasty jacket potatoes!

Really polite staff, nice quiet place to go for a coffee surrounded with stunning architecture displaying all the history of the church. Love this place and would go again either with company or alone. Highly recommend.

Dog friendly. Friendly and helpful staff. Serves hot and cold food and drinks.

Busy and friendly staff. Plain honest fare at descent prices

Great place to visit on trip to town center to refresh

Very nice idea! The inside Is beautiful, the food (beef stew and dumplings) was excellent

I love this place, staff friendly and food and drink reasonably priced

What a place! It's a church cafe! And it has a crypt..

Lovely old church with reasonably priced food.

Had beef and dumpling stew for lunch was very tasty, prices reasonable

Great place really friendly staff

Lovely place for lunch ...good food for good price ...staff are lovely and friendly ...

Fantastic company, Realise futures really have got it right , a real gem and credit to them. Friendly staff and affordable food Well done all

Amazingly friendly staff. Lovely coffee. Great scone to rival Cornwall's best. Shall be back to sample more. Impressed with, though I did not sample, the freshly cooked daily specials.

Love it, excellent value and good service

Town centre cafe in a converted church. Excellent range of hot and cold drinks and light meals. Realise Futures, the operator company, is a specialist training company for individuals of all abilities so service can sometimes be a little erratic but it's all part of the charm of St L's. A lovely venue for a town centre drink or meal, thoroughly recommended.

Very nice cosy coffe shop in the medieval church. The church is old and beautiful.

Una iglesia reconvertida en un café. Un lugar curioso para tomar un café, leer un libro y comer algo. Vale la pena parar a echar un vistazo cómo mínimo.

Lovely place for coffee, cakes, light lunches etc. This is our first port of call whenever we visit Ipswich.