It comes after Sainsbury’s shut all 61 of its in-store cafes in 2025, and Morrisons also closed 52 of theirs.
In an age where shoppers can find an abundance of choices for coffee chains, these more humble spots could be seen to be on the decline.
However, there’s something to be admired in these tucked-away corners of some of the UK’s most famous supermarkets, where customers should be able to grab a hot drink or a bite to eat for a relatively modest cost.
Personally, I had not been to one for many years, but I was curious to give them a try and see how they stacked up.
I aimed to judge them on their service, quality of food and drink, decor and cost, to see which of Asda, Morrisons, M&S and Tesco was best.
While I could easily cast my opinion on most of these, I did need a barometer for how good the hot drinks were, as tea and coffee are not something I tend to have.
Therefore, I did what any sensible person would do and visited these spots with my mum so she could have her say on how good the coffees were.
Due to the timings of work, I visited the cafes in the morning, so in terms of the food, this will be a judgment of their breakfast options.
I tried Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and M&S supermarket cafes
Asda
Asda was first up on my list, and it wasn’t the easiest to access, as, unlike what I later found with the others, you had to go through the tills to get to it.
Maybe it was because it was 9.30am on a Monday morning, but the actual cafe was rather bleak and desolate.
There was a decent amount of space, but the actual decor was rather brutalist in nature and not exactly very welcoming.
There were a couple of staff members towards the back area behind the till, busy with other duties, so we had to wait a few minutes, but eventually we were served.
Asda’s cafe was rather sparse (Image: Newsquest)
I wasn’t feeling too hungry, so I got a small breakfast while Mum partook in a cappuccino.
The coffee was then made, and we sat down, before the breakfast came out after a few minutes.
While other areas of the cafe might have been lacking, there couldn’t be any fault given to the staff, and the food was not too bad either.
It amounted to a sausage, a piece of bacon, a poached egg and two hash browns (one being a replacement for baked beans, which I’m not a fan of).
Asda’s small breakfast was perfectly serviceable (Image: Newsquest)
I can’t claim it was phenomenal by any stretch, but it was perfectly servicable for a cost of £4.35.
It filled a gap, I can say that much, and the cappuccino was decent too, according to Mum.
Rating: 4/10
Morrisons
The following week, we visited Morrisons, and the contrast with Asda was quite stark.
You didn’t have to enter the actual shopping section to access the cafe, and there was a large menu outside the entrance where you could easily take all your options in.
This was already lining up quite positively, and you could make your order on a self-service screen.
Morrisons’s fry up was quite tasty (Image: Newsquest)
A difference with Asda was that once you paid for your drinks, you could select them from a shelf on the side (if it was a cold one like mine) or use a coffee machine (which came with free refills).
While Mum was sorting out her coffee, my Full English arrived within literally two minutes (it was so quick we hadn’t actually sat down at our table yet!)
For £7 I got two bits of toast, two sausages, two bits of bacon, a fried egg, a hash brown and a heaping of mushrooms (always a bonus in my mind).
While I imagine most of the food was probably just on a hot plate due to the speed of its arrival, it was quite tasty.
There was plenty of seating in the Morrisons cafe (Image: Newsquest)
Mum ended up having a cappuccino, which she said was good, but her refill for an Americano just produced hot water from the machine, unfortunately.
Overall, the decor was really cosy, with lots of warm colour tones and a nice variety of seating for customers to utilise.
Rating: 8/10
M&S
My nearest M&S cafe was quite small, so I wasn’t able to have a proper Full English as a result.
Instead, I had a Big Breakfast Ciabatta for £6.95, which had a poached egg, two sausages and two bits of bacon in between the bread.
The Big Breakfast Ciabatta from M&S was quite tasty (Image: Newsquest)
While this was a pre-made thing (I could see the roll being removed from a container and heated up in an oven behind the till), it was still quite tasty, with the egg especially being lovely.
The seating area was tiny, but it had a small number of comfy chairs, and the service from the two staff members was top quality.
Additionally, the Flat White was deemed to be of decent quality by Mum.
Rating: 6/10
Tesco
Tesco was the final cafe on the list, and it delivered a decent experience overall.
Like Morrisons, it had a menu outside to browse, and had a fairly cosy seating area with plenty of options.
Tesco’s breakfast was the most expensive of the bunch (Image: Newsquest)
It was definitely the busiest out of the four we visited, and the most expensive at £8.40 for a Full English.
This got you two bits of toast, two hash browns, a fried egg, bacon and a sausage, which was perfectly solid.
In terms of the coffee, the Flat White was also well-received.
Rating: 7/10
Recommended reading:
Which supermarket cafe was best?
Asda was safely at the bottom of the list, while M&S was solid, if lacking a little due to a small number of options.
As a result, it was between Morrisons and Tesco for the winning spot, which Morrisons took thanks to its slightly nicer decor and breakfast options, and for being a bit cheaper.
Overall, I hope people continue to use supermarket cafes and that they can keep thriving going forward, as a nice little quirk of the shopping experience.
