The Commons Community Kitchen and Cafe at The Minories in Colchester

This is a jewel in the heart of Colchester. Set in a beautiful period house and child friendly garden. Delicious food and drinks in a locally run and friendly cafe. And there's an art gallery that rotates a range of artistic genres.

A nice friendly place in Colchester! Don’t be confused if you see the doors closed during the week. They are open from Thursdays and it is worth a visit.

Excellent, vegan, delicious good and a friendly, efficient run community cafe.

We popped in for a cuppa, it was good and the service was excellent. A variety of cakes and pastries was on offer. Will be returning. The cafe is in its 'infancy' but with good support it will grow. Lovely gardens.

Great food, great service, lovely atmosphere!

Great selection of food which was all plant based and looks homemade! The coffee was delicious and our rolls were lovely too. Lovely and quiet when we went, but still felt like a great atmosphere- would highly recommend this little gem 😊

Lovely cafe to meet with friends and take your little ones. Looking forward to coming back and going into the garden when it's sunny. Love that they use some organic and local produce. Really lovely owners - see you guys again soon. X

Lovely food, in a great location overlooking the Minories garden.

Lovely cafe! High quality ingredients, delicious food, lots of vegan options, great coffee, organic mylk. Beautiful and heated cafe with free access to the art gallery. View of their garden from the cafe too! 10/10 and very nice staff!! Thank you especially to Nicky (hope I've spelt that correctly) and all the chefs cooking up those yummy veggie dishes 💚🌱

Fab cafe. Lovely space. Great concept. Delish food. No meat!! What's not to love?

Was good up to lock down new cafe is terrible the large shop has gone. Can't see this being a viable business. Ruined.

The Minories Gallery has a long, important & very intrinsic history in the Colchester arts scene. Well worth a visit to see it's seasonally changing displays, ranging from sculpture, traditional painting to digital media, & concerts. The adjoining garden cafe & folly summerhouse should also not be missed. On the wall of the main gallery building is an official Blue Plaque, dedicated to the town's first female doctor & founder member of Colchester Arts Society, Ruth Bensusan-Butt...

I usually love Tiptree tea rooms, but this one let's the side down, regularly! Visited at the end of Feb on a Saturday afternoon at 2.10pm. Was ignored for ages so sat myself down where I pleased. I had observed that there were a few customers sat outside, as the weather was nice. When I eventually saw someone at the counter I went up to place my order. There didn't seem to be many staff, possibly 3, and they all appeared a bit frazzled. I asked if I could order a sandwich and was told 'no, only cakes and scones'. I accepted this as they had probably had a busy lunchtime, however an apology would have helped. But, I was astounded when the same person went to a table that had just arrived and took an order for hot food! Someone needs to organise this tearoom a little better, as they then told every successive customer there was no food at all, just drinks. As they don't close til 4pm, there must gave been a shortfall in the days takings. I can appreciate that they may have run short after a busy lunch, but with better stock ordering and understanding of their footfall patterns, they would have managed better.

The gallery was good different place to go to

Staff really slow. Food is ok but could be better

Great food and a cosy atmosphere.

First time here. Would highly recommend. Its lovely

Lovely setting and staff friendly, food ok but SO slow to serve and not up to the standard of other Tiptree tea rooms that I visit regularly.

Pricey but a nice place to drink a brew!

A great place to have a breakfast or lunch. Very pleasant staff and good quality food. Although in the town centre it is still quiet in the garden. Best thing about it is the chance to buy Wilkin and Son preserves especially the ones that you don't tend to find in the supermarkets.

Lovely garden but very slow service

Art gallery is exceptional, but the food is not up to the same level. Portions were small, salad undressed and the kids pasta was inedible. Really overpriced too, such a shame.

Beautiful gardens tasty cake, tea cup handle a little small

Quiet and well decorated. Food is delicious. Worth going. Will definitely go again.

Tea's and coffees and cold drinks, with hot and cold snacks are all available in this quaint area. The staff are polite and friendly.

Lovely venue especially in the summer.

Lovely quiet spot for a snack and a drink

We was very pleased with our visit to the minories cafe the staff we're great it was very clean the food was excellent we had afternoon tea we would recommend it the whole experience was great try it and see

First time in there the other day and liked it. Staff very helpful and welcoming. Wanted to know more about the history of the building but the gentleman with the knowledge was on his day off.

Oasis in the middle of Colchester. Pity Wilkins have installed uncomfortable seating in the garden. Not as relaxing as it once was...

Lovely food, great friendly staff. Stumbled across it. Needs to be advertised more

Service not that good,some staff a bit rude,they don't really know how to cope with more than one customer at a time which is a shame as the outside area is very nice.

Nice except for the skateboarders clanking and shouting outside

Very slow and lack lustre service. Shame lovely place n OK menu.

I always enjoy going there. It's a lovely friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Really lovely outside area especially nice on such a lovely day.

Nice, cheap and in the open air

Lovely location which adds a big plus. Staff and service is great and so is the drinks as well. A moment to relax - this is the perfect place.

Usually one of our favourite places to eat but today disappointed with the salad we had, tomato, not a whole one, mozzarella 3 small slices, Avocado,nor even half of one,no dressing or even a few herbs. Boring, Over priced. so so disappointed 😞 😞

One of my favourite Colchester cafés - nice bright indoor space, art on the walls, with small children's area with crayons etc. Outside has a lovely spacious garden. Very kid friendly, food is great, prices reasonable.