The bar at Elephant & Castle closes half an hour before the market does. Every single day.
Market: Monday to Wednesday midday to 11pm. Thursday midday to midnight. Friday midday to 1am. Saturday 11am to 1am. Sunday 11am to 10pm.
The Bar: Monday to Wednesday midday to 10.30pm. Thursday midday to 11.30pm. Friday and Saturday midday to 12.30am. Sunday midday to 9.30pm.
Thirty minutes, consistently, at both ends of the week. So last orders are not when the lights go up, they are half an hour earlier, and on a Friday that means the bar stops at 12.30am while the market runs to one.
Plan the last drink accordingly, because nothing on the site flags the gap.
Three London sites, and they open four hours apart
Mercato runs three London venues and they are not interchangeable.
Mayfair opens at 9am, seven days a week. Monday to Thursday 9am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 9am to midnight, Sunday 9am to 10.30pm.
Wood Wharf opens at 11am. Sunday to Wednesday 11am to 11pm, Thursday to Saturday 11am to midnight. Its breakfast and coffee shop opens earlier, at 9am Monday to Friday and 8am at weekends.
Elephant & Castle opens at midday on weekdays and 11am at weekends.
So for a morning coffee the order is Wood Wharf’s coffee shop at 8am on a Saturday, then Mayfair at 9am, then Elephant & Castle three hours later.
For a late night it reverses: Elephant & Castle is the only one open until 1am, on Friday and Saturday, where Mayfair stops at midnight and Wood Wharf at midnight.
All three are open seven days a week including bank holidays.
Elephant & Castle has a second, much earlier set of hours
Easy to miss and it changes what a morning visit gets you.
Alongside the market hours, Elephant & Castle publishes a separate daytime schedule: Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm.
So parts of the site are trading from 8am on a weekday, four hours before the market proper opens at midday, and they stop at 4pm.
Pizza, focaccia and pasta run on the general market hours, not the early ones.
A banner on their own homepage says “open until late 2026”
Worth flagging honestly rather than guessing at.
Checked on 6 October 2026, the Mercato Metropolitano homepage carries a scrolling banner repeated across the page reading “ELEPHANT & CASTLE OPEN UNTIL LATE 2026”.
That phrasing can be read two ways. It may mean the site trades late into the evening, which it does, to 1am on a Friday and Saturday. Or it may mean the Elephant & Castle venue is open only until late in 2026.
Nothing on the Elephant & Castle venue page itself mentions an end date, and the market is still taking bookings and running events there, including an Oktoberfest and a tenth birthday weekender.
We cannot resolve which reading is correct from their own site. So: if you are planning anything at Elephant & Castle beyond this year, check directly before committing. The other two venues carry no such banner.
The Mayfair one is a Grade I listed church
The reason to pick it over the other two.
Mercato Mayfair is set in the Grade I-listed St Mark’s Church, with stained glass and what the market calls grand architecture, running across three floors. It has been a food and cultural hub since 2019.
Of the three London sites it is the only one in a listed building, and the 9am opening makes it the one that works as a breakfast room.
W1K 6ZA.
Wood Wharf has igloos on the river
MM Wood Wharf has been running since May 2022 in Canary Wharf’s riverside neighbourhood, with five indoor and outdoor spaces, including private garden igloos overlooking the river and a basement space.
The igloos are the thing worth booking in winter, and they are the only covered outdoor seating across the three sites.
It also runs a pre-theatre menu, which is unusual for Canary Wharf and suggests it is being used before shows at the nearby venues.
E14 9QG.
Elephant & Castle is the biggest
17,000 square feet and over 40 independent traders, which Mercato describes as one of London’s largest sustainable community food markets.
The spaces run from outdoor piazzas to indoor warehouses and a garden area, so it is the one that works in a group that wants to spread out, and the one most affected by weather.
SE1 6DR.
One honest flag on the published hours
Checked on 6 October 2026, all three venue pages still publish Easter opening hours: Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday times, for an Easter that has passed.
That does not make the regular hours wrong, but it does mean the pages are not being kept current, so treat any dated exception on them with suspicion and ring ahead for a bank holiday.
What is on
The programme runs across all three and is more varied than a food market usually manages: workshops, parties, kids’ clubs and cooking classes.
Currently listed: Oktoberfest at all three venues on separate dates, an art exhibition programme at Mayfair and Wood Wharf, Wharf After Work evenings, and bottomless pizza and gelato every Thursday 6pm to 8pm at Elephant & Castle.
How to plan it
Last drink: half an hour before closing. The bar always shuts before the market.
Breakfast: Wood Wharf’s coffee shop from 8am at weekends, or Mayfair from 9am daily.
Late night: Elephant & Castle, the only one to 1am, Friday and Saturday.
Rain: Mayfair, which is indoors in a church, or Wood Wharf’s igloos.
Big group: Elephant & Castle, at 17,000 square feet with 40 traders.
Planning ahead at Elephant & Castle: check the site is still trading.
Bank holiday: ring. The published holiday hours are out of date.
Mercato Metropolitano Elephant & Castle
- Address
- London SE1 6DR
- Nearest
- Elephant & Castle
- Hours
- Market Monday to Wednesday midday to 11pm, Thursday midday to midnight, Friday midday to 1am, Saturday 11am to 1am, Sunday 11am to 10pm. The Bar closes 30 minutes earlier every day. A separate daytime schedule runs Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm and weekends 9am to 4pm. Open seven days including bank holidays
- Booking
- Online. Bottomless pizza and gelato every Thursday 6pm to 8pm
- Price
- Street food prices across more than 40 independent traders. Free to enter
- Standing
- One of London’s largest sustainable community food markets at 17,000 square feet, with outdoor piazzas, indoor warehouses and a garden
How to get in
The bar closes 30 minutes before the market every day of the week, so last orders on a Friday are 12.30am against a 1am close. A second, much earlier schedule runs from 8am on weekdays and ends at 4pm, four hours before the market proper opens at midday. The only one of the three London sites open to 1am. Checked 6 October 2026 the Mercato homepage carries a banner reading open until late 2026, which is ambiguous and not explained on the venue page, so confirm before planning far ahead.
Mercato Mayfair
- Address
- London W1K 6ZA, in the Grade I listed St Mark’s Church
- Nearest
- Marble Arch and Bond Street
- Hours
- Monday to Thursday 9am to 11pm. Friday and Saturday 9am to midnight. Sunday 9am to 10.30pm. Open seven days including bank holidays
- Booking
- Online. Private hire and an art exhibition programme by enquiry
- Price
- Street food prices across three floors of traders. Free to enter
- Standing
- A food and cultural hub since 2019 inside a Grade I listed church, with stained glass and three floors of traders
How to get in
Opens at 9am every day, the earliest of the three London Mercato sites, which makes it the one that works for breakfast. The only one of the three inside a listed building, and the only one that is wholly indoors, so it is the wet weather choice. Closes at midnight on Friday and Saturday, an hour before Elephant and Castle.
Mercato Metropolitano Wood Wharf
- Address
- London E14 9QG, in Canary Wharf’s riverside neighbourhood
- Nearest
- Canary Wharf
- Hours
- Sunday to Wednesday 11am to 11pm. Thursday to Saturday 11am to midnight. The breakfast and coffee shop opens 9am Monday to Friday and 8am at weekends. Open seven days including bank holidays
- Booking
- Online. Private garden igloos and five indoor and outdoor spaces bookable
- Price
- Street food prices. Free to enter. A pre-theatre menu is offered
- Standing
- An artisanal food market open since May 2022, with five indoor and outdoor spaces including private garden igloos overlooking the river and a basement space
How to get in
The coffee shop opens at 8am at weekends, the earliest opening of any Mercato site. The private garden igloos are the only covered outdoor seating across the three London venues and the thing to book in winter. It runs a pre-theatre menu, which is unusual for Canary Wharf.
Where to go next
London’s food markets compares them all, and Seven Dials Market is the Covent Garden equivalent with its own terrace rule.
Borough Market closes Mondays and shuts at 5pm, and Canary Wharf covers the area around the Wood Wharf site.
Questions we get asked
What time does Mercato Metropolitano close?
It depends on the site and on whether you mean the market or the bar. Elephant & Castle runs to 11pm Monday to Wednesday, midnight Thursday, 1am Friday and Saturday and 10pm Sunday, but its bar closes 30 minutes earlier every day. Mayfair closes at 11pm Monday to Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday and 10.30pm Sunday. Wood Wharf closes at 11pm Sunday to Wednesday and midnight Thursday to Saturday.
How many Mercato Metropolitano are there in London?
Three: Elephant & Castle in SE1, which at 17,000 square feet and over 40 traders is the largest; Mayfair in W1, inside the Grade I listed St Mark's Church; and Wood Wharf in E14, on the Canary Wharf riverside since May 2022. All three open seven days a week including bank holidays.
Which Mercato Metropolitano opens earliest?
Wood Wharf's breakfast and coffee shop, at 8am on Saturday and Sunday and 9am Monday to Friday. Mayfair opens at 9am seven days a week. Elephant & Castle's market opens at midday on weekdays and 11am at weekends, though it runs a separate earlier daytime schedule from 8am on weekdays which ends at 4pm.
Is Mercato Metropolitano Elephant and Castle closing?
Unclear from their own site. Checked on 6 October 2026, the Mercato homepage carries a scrolling banner reading Elephant & Castle open until late 2026, which could mean it trades late in the evening or that the venue closes late in 2026. The venue page itself gives no end date and the site is still taking bookings and running events there. Check directly before planning anything there far ahead.
Does Mercato Metropolitano have outdoor seating?
All three sites have outdoor space. Elephant & Castle has outdoor piazzas and a garden area, Wood Wharf has five indoor and outdoor spaces including private garden igloos overlooking the river, and the igloos are the only covered outdoor seating across the three. Mayfair is inside a church.
Do you need to book Mercato Metropolitano?
No, the markets are free to enter and walk in. Bookings are taken online, and private hire is available, including the garden igloos at Wood Wharf and spaces at all three venues. Elephant & Castle runs bottomless pizza and gelato every Thursday from 6pm to 8pm.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 337 in the guide.
Last checked 6 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
