Most people spend ninety seconds in Neal’s Yard, take the photograph and leave. There is a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the courtyard, and it has been there since 2017. That is the case for staying longer than the picture takes.
The practical thing to know first: the cafe everybody eats at stops cooking at 4pm while its doors stay open until 7. Arrive at five expecting lunch and you will get coffee.
Where it is
Neal’s Yard sits between Covent Garden and Seven Dials, reached through narrow passageways from Monmouth Street and Shorts Garden. It is small, it is painted in colours visible from the entrance, and it is easy to walk past twice.
The name comes from Thomas Neale, the 17th century property developer who laid out Seven Dials. The courtyard was a storage yard with little appeal until 1976, when the environmentalist Nicholas Saunders bought one of the empty warehouses with the idea of a communal hub built around sustainable living and natural foods. Neal’s Yard Remedies opened its doors here in 1981 and the flagship is still in the courtyard.
The Barbary
At 16 Neal’s Yard, open since 2016. It is a single horseshoe counter built around an open fire, and it has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2017. The cooking draws on the Moorish food of the mountain villages of Spain and Morocco, across to the Mediterranean.
The booking rule is unusual and worth knowing. Reservations are taken for parties of two to four only. For a single seat the restaurant tells you not to bother booking: it encourages solo diners to simply walk in, because the wait for one seat at the counter is usually very short. Walk-ins are always welcome, and you can wait at the bar with a drink.
A private hire takes 24 guests around the same counter. The telephone number is 020 7870 5659.
26 Grains
At 1 Neal’s Yard, a small cafe built around porridge, sweet and savoury, and topped toasts. Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, Saturday 9am to 7pm, and on both the kitchen closes at 4pm. Sunday is 9am to 4pm.
So there are two different places here depending on the hour. Before four it is breakfast and lunch. After four it is a coffee shop with the kitchen shut. It is also dog friendly.
The rest of the courtyard
La Compagnie is the wine bar, with a list drawn from small producers alongside French and Italian small plates. Neal’s Yard Remedies is the natural beauty shop that started here in 1981 and is now a global brand. There are other independent cafes and shops in the yard, and the mix changes.
When to go
It is a small courtyard in the middle of the West End and it is busiest in the middle of the day. Go before noon for the photograph and the quiet, or go in the evening for the counter at the Barbary, which is the one thing here that is worth crossing London for.
Covent Garden is the district around it, and the restaurants there cover the wider choice. The coffee shops cover the category 26 Grains sits in.
The Barbary
- Address
- 16 Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9DP
- Nearest
- Covent Garden or Leicester Square
- Booking
- Reservations for two to four people only. Solo diners are told to walk in, because the wait for a single seat is usually very short. Walk-ins always welcome. 020 7870 5659
- Price
- Michelin Bib Gourmand, which is the guide’s good value category
- Standing
- Open since 2016. A single horseshoe counter around an open fire. Bib Gourmand since 2017
How to get in
Moorish cooking from the mountain villages of Spain and Morocco. Private hire seats 24 around the same counter.
26 Grains
- Address
- 1 Neal’s Yard, London WC2H 9DP
- Nearest
- Covent Garden or Leicester Square
- Hours
- Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm and Saturday 9am to 7pm, with the kitchen closing at 4pm on both. Sunday 9am to 4pm
- Booking
- Walk in
- Price
- A porridge and toast cafe, sweet and savoury
- Standing
- A small cafe in the courtyard, dog friendly
How to get in
The kitchen shuts three hours before the doors on weekdays and Saturdays, so lunch has a hard stop at four.
Where to go next
Covent Garden is the district around it, and the best restaurants in Covent Garden cover the wider choice.
The best coffee shops in London cover what 26 Grains competes with, and the wine bars cover the category La Compagnie sits in.
Questions we get asked
What is there in Neal's Yard?
A small courtyard between Covent Garden and Seven Dials with independent cafes, a wine bar and shops. The Barbary, at number 16, has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2017. 26 Grains at number 1 is a porridge and toast cafe. La Compagnie is the wine bar, and the Neal's Yard Remedies flagship has been here since 1981.
Do you need to book The Barbary in Neal's Yard?
Only for parties of two to four, which is the size the booking widget accepts. Solo diners are told to walk in, because the wait for a single seat at the counter is usually very short. Walk-ins are always welcome and you can wait at the bar.
What are 26 Grains opening hours?
Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm and Saturday 9am to 7pm, with the kitchen closing at 4pm on both. Sunday is 9am to 4pm. After four the kitchen is shut even though the cafe is open.
Why is Neal's Yard so colourful?
The courtyard was a storage yard until 1976, when the environmentalist Nicholas Saunders bought one of the empty warehouses to build a hub around sustainable living and natural foods. The painted frontages date from that reinvention, and the yard is named after Thomas Neale, the 17th century developer who laid out Seven Dials.
How do you get into Neal's Yard?
Through narrow passageways from Monmouth Street or Shorts Garden, between Covent Garden and Seven Dials. The nearest stations are Covent Garden and Leicester Square.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 192 in the guide.
Last checked 3 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
