Sports Café social guide

What to expect when you visit

The Sports Café is based inside the Sports Training Village (STV), and it's a bit different from most outlets on campus. The menu leans heavily towards sports nutrition: protein-rich meals, recovery shakes, and food built around good macros, alongside the usual coffee and soft drinks.

This guide tells you exactly what to expect before you arrive, including how to order, what's on the menu, and when it tends to get busiest. 

 

Getting to Sports Café 

There are two main routes to the Sports Café.

The main STV entrance

Enter the building from the main entrance opposite 10 East. Once inside, follow the walkway all the way down the building until you reach the café. 

 

Back entrance

Follow the pavement to the right of the road leading to East Car Park. Once you have passed the East Building, turn right and continue until you reach benches. The entrance to the café will be on your right.

 

What to expect when you arrive

There are two separate payment points, one mainly for Sports Bowls and similar meals, and one mainly for drinks and salads, so it's worth a quick look to see which queue you need.

 

Seating is fairly uniform: tables paired with one standard chair type or long benches. There aren't armchairs, booths, or sofas to choose between.

 

There's no bathroom inside the café itself. To reach the nearest one: exit the Sports Café towards the main STV entrance, and keep walking straight until you pass the staircase down to the gym. Turn left there and head straight until you see the indoor tennis court. On your left you'll find the male, female, and accessible bathrooms. 

 

Food and drink

The Sports Café menu is built around sports nutrition, so expect a focus on protein and good macros alongside the usual café staples. You can check the menu on the website.

Main meals include poke bowls and sports bowls, salads, jacket potatoes, hot meals with pasta or rice, cooked and continental breakfast, and paninis.

There are lots of protein-rich snacks, recovery shakes and smoothies available. Some chilled products are in a fridge next to one of the counters.

 

Remember there are two payment points: hot meals go through one till, while drinks and salads tend to go through the other. You can ask a member of staff if you're unsure where to go.

When you're finished with you food, you need to put any trays and plates of the racks, which are usually near the hot food counter and next to the glass doors leading outside.

 

Noise and atmosphere

Noise and crowding at Sports Café changes a lot depending on the time of day and what's going on at STV.

The café is quietest in the early and mid-morning, so this is a good time to visit if you want a calmer experience. On a standard weekday, it is busiest at lunchtime, when seating fills up and queues at both payment points get longer

On big STV event days, like Varsity, Sports Café can get incredibly packed. If you're not comfortable in very crowded spaces, it's best to avoid the café during these events.

 

Opening hours

You can find up to date opening hours for all hospitality outlets on the website, including the Sports Café. 

The Sports Café is usually open everyday, with shorter hours during the weekend.

 

If you need a break

Immediately outside of the café, there is an outdoor area overlooking the pitches and tracks. It is an open, spacious spot that works well if you need a moment to decompress or recover. It can get busy when matches or outdoor events are taking place.

 

Share your feedback

We're always looking to make the Sports Café a better experience for everyone, and the best people to tell us how are the ones who use it the most.

If you have feedback on this guide of the café itself, we'd love to hear from you.