Leonard’s Coffee House

Great little cafe. Exceptional service. Friendly. Superb food. Awesome gluten free.

I never knew this little place existed as it is tucked out of the way. Nice and quiet when I visited. I only had coffee which was lovely. Pleasant view across the river.

Walked in during peak hour and was told to wait for a table which is pretty standard. After about 20 minutes of waiting we were shown to our table, and the waitress mentioned that she was going to get menus for us. After about another 10 minutes of waiting, there was no sign of the waitress or any indication of us getting the menu. My friend and I got up to grab some menus ourselves. After about another 20 minutes, no one had come to our table to take our orders, so we got up and went to the cashier to order. After 50 minutes of waiting, our food had still not been served. In this time we had seen numerous people walk in, get served, order and receive their order while we were still waiting. Not to mention that the table that we were shown had not been cleared till about 45 minutes into us having taken a seat ( she did not wipe the table though). I can understand being understaffed, and it being busy. However, when you see other people come and get served whilst you and your friends that are the only foreigners in the cafe, are being ignored, it does definitely raise a few questions. It honestly doesn’t take that long to poach eggs and toast bread 💀💀. We got up and left and they didn’t even bat an eye. Would avoid this place like the plague. Horrible service and disorganised.

yummy food and lovely atmosphere. sat upstairs and it was quiet. food came before drinks but it was only a few minutes and we didn’t really mind. I had bacon and maple pancakes which were the perfect mix of sweet and salty, partner had avocado and halloumi sourdough which she praised highly. pleasant and filling brunch

The food is really good, but the service is a hit and miss. Today we were queuing to get a table and the main waiter lacked the politeness and professionalism that give places a 5 stars review. When waiting for a table we were turned away in a rude manner, without even asking anything. I would recommend increase the number of people serving as at times they look stressed about workload.

Very welcoming and cosy, I like the coffee and hot chocolate but my family didn’t like the pancakes. But there was no gluten free pancakes!

Good food, far too slow - a real shame as there seems to be no desire to change this. Not uncommon to wait 45+ minutes for simple sandwiches.

The standard response is “we’re busy” but compared to other cafes in Durham they aren’t, and can’t compete with their speedy (while also still excellent) service. If you have other things to do while you’re in town, go elsewhere.

My favourite cafe in the city. Little hidden gem in the back. I probably had their Eggs Benedict at least 20 times since last year and the eggs are always poached perfectly, hollandaise always consistently amazing, and I can't say much about other brunch menus bc eggs benny is what I always go for but all my friends that I've brought here raved about their food too. I really like their coffee too, amazing strong full bodied blend, and they sell their beans so that you can enjoy their specialty house blend at home. Best part is that all the food's so cheap compared to other more instagrammy brunch places in Durham, which I've been to many times as well, but honestly, Leonard's is the only place to go.