Lyons’ Popular Café, London

Lyons’ Popular Café, London

The international was a social as much as an economic or political enterprise. Its social spaces ranged from those of high society cocktail bars to cheaper, everyday venues. Lyons’ cafes emerged out of an exhibitions catering company founded in 1887. The Piccadilly café, opened in 1894, was the first in a chain that would spread across the country. It could seat 2000 people and was popular for its set price lunch and dinner menus. Lyons’ cafes provided relatively cheap spaces that were both accessible and loud enough for political conversations to take place confidentially. Hindu nationalist delegate to the Round Table Conference Dr BS Moonje met colleagues and reporters at Lyons’ Popular cafes, corner houses and restaurants 10 times within one month of his 1930 visit to London. Unable to stay in or eat at the exclusive restaurant hotels frequented by the Maharajas in the city, Lyons’ provided the base for his campaigning for Dominion Status for India.

Evening Standard, 19th June 1929 / © British Library, System Number 013889937