The Pod Café

Welcome to The Pod Café

The Pod Cafe is an award-winning plant-based cafe fully operated by Coventry City Council. We open our doors on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for our signature, locally sourced lunch menu which we change every week.

A lot of our produce is grown right here in Coventry by Food Union who operate our CV5 allotment site. We work alongside Food Union and other partner organisations to offer allotment gatherings, Slow Sunday Dining Clubs, Friday Supper Clubs, a Harvest Festival and Spring Fair, a zine festival and much, much more.

We were delighted to be awarded the 'Vegan Taste' and 'Community Hero' Awards at the Coventry & Warwickshire Foodie Awards in 2023, adding to our recommendations in The Telegraph and The Guardian newspapers and Muddy Stilettos.

You can find our social media channels further down this page and we post all our special events and announcements via those channels.

Please note that for our lunches we are open from 12noon - 3pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and we are a fully walk-in cafe. We are not able to take advance bookings. We can get very busy at peak times and we always operate a shared table policy - we believe in the power of food to connect people.

What we offer

The café will always operate to support the core work of The Pod, and working within that framework we are delighted to be offering the following:

• Our signature plant-based, seasonal and locally sourced lunches
• A new menu every week
• Our normal opening hours will be:
  • Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 12noon – 3pm (last orders at 3pm, café closes at 3.30pm)
• During the summer holidays our opening hours are: 10.00am - 2.30pm Tuesday to Friday
• A warm and welcoming space for everyone, with curated music, food displays and weekly specials
• Quarterly Slow Sunday Dining Clubs open to the public
• A range of themed Supper Clubs, some open to the public and some private events
• A series of events in conjunction with Food Union – Song & Soil Events at the allotment, a Harvest Festival at Coventry Cathedral and Winter & Summer Solstice events

The Pod's Core Work

• Did you know that The Pod's Core Work is mental health social advocacy and brokerage?
• The Pod Cafe, Food Union and Time Union exist because we believe it is essential that as a mental health service, we invest in and influence the city - regeneration and recovery are totally intertwined
• All of our work is rights-based and asserts the importance of cultivating authentic and critical connections within the city, its creatives, entrepreneurs, academics, industry leaders, change makers, quiet activists and the under heard

Please consider being part of our work by joining Time Union and/or Food Union

What to expect at the cafe

White Bean Cassoulet with Rosemary Focaccia, Masala Chickpeas with Turmeric Basmati Rice and Cucumber Salad, Spiralised Summer Vegetable Tart with Pesto, New Potatoes & Allotment Salad...

We change our menu weekly and we also offer two desserts and a drinks special. We also change the music daily so you can always experience your meal with a different soundtrack.

A main course, dessert and a drink costs £9, with mains priced individually at £5.

Active members of Food Union and Time Union will pay just £7.50 for the full set meal.

We’re a fully walk-in café and with the exception of partner organisations, we don’t take table bookings. We do get busy, but we will always do our best to find a table and where practical we operate a shared table policy.

Politics & Pakora

On some Wednesday evenings we run ‘Politics & Pakora’ evenings. What are they about? We are not quite sure yet, but we want to create a space that recognises and utilises the transformative and political power of The Pod’s community, and that of the City. Expect, launch events for zines, zine-making workshops, tiny gigs, poetry nights, critical debate about stuff that impacts on our lives, the voice of the survivor movement, Time Union exchanges, discussion about food justice, eco debates and more. The food won’t always be pakora, it will be a fresh and light dish - but the evenings will always be gently radical.

Please check our social media pages for any scheduled events.

Connect with us

The most up-to-date information about the café can be found on our social media pages. This is also where you will be able to contact us book your place at upcoming events and see the new menu every Monday (please also remember to follow Food Union who organise a number of the events)

• Facebook: /thepodcoventry /foodunion
• Instagram: @the_pod_cafe
• Twitter: @the_pod_cafe

We look forward to seeing you at the café soon.