The Footstool Cafe

Cafe · Westminster

The Footstool Cafe

Cafe · Westminster
St John’s, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA, United Kingdom

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The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null
The Footstool Cafe by null

Highlights

Crypt cafe with brick arches, offering great food, cakes, coffee  

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St John’s, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA, United Kingdom Get directions

sjss.org.uk

£1–20 · Menu

Information

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St John’s, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA, United Kingdom Get directions

+44 20 7222 2779
sjss.org.uk

£1–20 · Menu

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Last updated

Aug 19, 2025

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Julia W

Google
Great setting in the crypt of this lovely concert venue. Good range of cakes including gluten free options and good coffee.

Elizabeth Stuart-Cairns

Google
Came across this gem last week during a guided tour of Westminster and returned for lunch afterwards. Two of us had the beetroot, feta, walnut & puy lentil salad and our friend had the leek pie. All the food was delicious and freshly prepared and brought to our table promptly. If you're anywhere near Parliament or Westminster Abbey, you really should seek it out!

Joe Steele

Google
Cute cafe with attentive staff. Had a ham and cheese sandwich that was excellent. On the side was some fries and a salad. Just the thing for a cold rainy London winter day.

Ali Houadef

Google
No internet connection inside, morning staff can put a smile on their faces. Good price. Use wir fresheners in the toilet! Big potential, but the little things take away points

Edward Pym

Google
Pleasant cafe in the crypt underneath St John’s Smith Square. Very reasonable prices, and pleasant surroundings in the below-ground crypt. Recommended!

K

Google
The food here was so average and the portion size small. Definitely not worth the price, but I guess they justify it with location.

Fred Brown

Google
Favorite place:) I like a lot: from the location, cozy interior and ending with a wide menu format for every taste! We tried many positions, basically everything is very tasty👍

sarah Plant

Google
My friend and I went here for lunch last Wednesday after a lovely visit to The Tate. We ordered the toasted sourdough sandwich's. An aged feta, sun-dried tomato and pesto, the other was the free range chicken breast, kimchi and mozzarella. We were then told that unfortunately there were no sun-dried tomatoes so my friend changed her order to the Wiltshire ham, mustard and mature cheddar. When the order finally arrived, my friend had a sandwich which consisted of nothing but feta cheese and I ended up with only a ham sandwich! Nothing like our order. We complained politely about having completely the wrong oder and were told this was due to the chef who apparently didn't like to to be told what to do!!! It was clear that the young waitress didn't want to complain to him that we had the wrong order. Or to ask him to make the order that we had requested. It was clear she wasn't prepared to do anything and gave us a vague shrug before disappearing! My friend not prepared to settle for paying £19.50 (!!!) each for these sandwich's one of which was a dry feta cheese and the other only a couple of slices of ham. She refused to pay the bill. Eventually the waitress agreed that we should only pay for the chips! The whole experience was horrendous.
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Uli B.

Yelp
It's a cafe in the crypt of a church turned music venue. And it's great. It's a good place to work or meet a friend for a cuppa. Or, as I did, it's a great space to relax before a talk. What I would like to rave about though is the baked goods. Well, technically I can't vouch for all of them except for the "Rocky Road" bar, but that one was out of this world. And really, I'm not easily impressed by baked goods as I always think I can actually do it better. This one though: divine!
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Jim E.

Yelp
After a water tour on the Thames, we were ready for a nice lunch. One person in our large party had eaten here previously and enjoyed it. Service was a little slow, but we were in no hurry. Intervals between courses were nicely spaced. Lunch took two hours and that was fine for us. Soup was a large portion and could have almost made a meal by itself. Mains were rather large portions for lunch. Desserts were also good. Ambiance was excellent.
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Kyle K.

Yelp
After a fun morning of seeing the sights in Westminster, my fiancée and I were in great need of warming up on a snowy London day. Thankfully, Footstool Restaurant was close by in the crypt of St. John's Smith Square, a former church turned concert hall. The beautifully rustic restaurant with its red brick arches was the perfect place to savor a craft coffee and get an energy boost. We both enjoyed delicious Flat Whites and took in the historic surroundings. I hope to return in the future to try the delectable looking lunch buffet and to catch a performance upstairs in the music venue!

Hannah B.

Yelp
Inside St Johns Crypt is a very pleasant restaurant which opens daily for lunch as well as for special events and performances in the church above. Under the umbrella of Tate Catering you can expect a consistently high level of quality food and service. There are many tables and the restaurant rarely fills up but it is still advisable to book ahead. The food is perfectly presented, delicious without exception and the kind of restaurant that if something is not entirely satisfactory, they will bend over backwards to rectify it.
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Sarah O.

Yelp
A hidden lunch place for those cheeky Friday lunch time glasses of wine, the food is filling and a nice change from the monotony of Pret and other sandwich shops in the area. The salads are quite good, you almost can't choose! It's also never packed, even on Fridays, so you're guaranteed some space.
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Don S.

Yelp
I've had lunch a couple times at Footstool's. The food is good, well presented, and a friendly staff. But let's be serious, the only reason people come here is to experience dining in an old crypt, just the idea gives one shivers down their spines and the giddiness of their youth. Either that, or they're on their lunch break, rushing to get back to their bureaucratic paper pushing jobs at Westminster.
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Matthew S.

Yelp
Pleasant vaulted restaurant beneath a famous historic church. Lunch options include a prix fixe menu and a very efficient buffet. Good value and popular. My buffet lunch for two with water and coffees came to about £24 which I thought was pretty reasonable.