North Laine, Brighton: A Local's Guide
The narrow streets below Brighton station that nearly became a flyover: how to do North Laine, from coffee and brunch to pubs and Komedia.
By Only Brighton Editorial
North Laine is the grid of narrow streets between Brighton station and North Street, and it is where to spend a day in Brighton if you like independent shops, good coffee and pubs with character. The essentials: coffee at Dandy or Pelicano on Sydney Street, brunch at Mange Tout on Trafalgar Street, the Saturday market on Upper Gardner Street, a pint at the Basketmakers Arms, pizza at Fatto a Mano or tacos at La Choza on Gloucester Road, and comedy at Komedia on Gardner Street. Everything here was checked in October 2026. Walk it slowly; the whole point is getting distracted.
What is North Laine?
The area runs south from the station along Trafalgar Street towards North Street, just north of the Lanes (different place, same confusing name). Its main shopping streets are Trafalgar Street, Kensington Gardens, Sydney Street, Gardner Street and Bond Street, and most are fully or partly pedestrianised. The terraces date from the late Georgian and early Victorian periods, and the whole area was nearly flattened for high-rise blocks, a flyover and a car park until planning officer Ken Fines argued to save it; it became a conservation area in 1977, and there is a plaque to him on North Road. The first Body Shop opened on Kensington Gardens. The name comes from an old Sussex word for open farmland, which is hard to picture now.
Coffee
North Laine has the best concentration of specialty coffee in the city. Dandy, at 39a Sydney Street, pours Murmuration beans in a small room with a big window. Pelicano, at 28 Sydney Street, roasts its own and has seats upstairs and on the pavement. Triple Point, at 53 Gardner Street, runs a Synesso machine and sells beans and kit. Bond St Coffee, at 15 Bond Street, does three single origins across espresso and filter. On Gloucester Road, LOAM (number 111) and Ease (number 27) are worth the detour. Full details are in the Double Skinny Macchiato coffee map.
Breakfast, brunch and lunch
Mange Tout, at 81 Trafalgar Street, serves French-style brunch daily from 9am to 3pm and turns into a bistro on Thursday to Saturday nights. The Flour Pot on Sydney Street was voted second-best cafe in the city in 2026, so get a pastry. Black Mocha, at 103 Gloucester Road, has been here since 2014 and does a vegan Garden Breakfast.
Dinner
Fatto a Mano, at 25 Gloucester Road, does Neapolitan pizza from £9.50 and won Best Value at the 2026 BRAVO awards. A few doors along, La Choza at number 36 is a bright Mexican shack with nachos at £10.50 and burritos and tacos from £14, open 11.30am to 10pm daily.
Pubs
The Basketmakers Arms, at 12 Gloucester Road, is a Fuller's pub whose walls are covered in old tins with notes and poems from regulars inside. Earth and Stars, at 46 Windsor Street, is fully plant-based and was voted second-best pub in the city in 2026. The Evening Star, on Surrey Street by the station, is where Dark Star brewery started and still pours a changing range of microbrewery beers.
Comedy and nights out
Komedia, at 44 to 47 Gardner Street, is a comedy and music venue in a former supermarket, with a weekly Komedia Comedy Club on Friday and Saturday nights. The late 2026 programme includes Olga Koch on 5 November, Dan Schreiber on 21 November and Ania Magliano on 23 November, plus kids' shows, cabaret, queer club nights and a Halloween party or three.
Markets and shopping
On Saturdays, Upper Gardner Street closes to traffic for a market selling clothing, art, pottery and food. The rest of the week, the shops do the work: vintage clothes, records, books, homewares and gifts, with plenty changing hands from year to year, which is part of the fun. LOAM on Gloucester Road sells homewares alongside its coffee.
A North Laine day
Get off the train, coffee at Pelicano, browse Sydney Street and Kensington Gardens, lunch at Mange Tout, more shops on Gardner and Bond Street, a pint at the Basketmakers, pizza at Fatto a Mano, then a show at Komedia. You will cover maybe a mile, and it will take all day. On Saturdays, the market and the crowds make it busier, so come early if you want room to browse.
