Common Grounds in Belfast, United Kingdom

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Telephone:	+44 28 9032 6589
Website:	www.commongrounds.co.uk
Address:	12-24 University Avenue, Belfast, United Kingdom, BT7 1GY
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	640 ftUniversity Road 800 ftBotanic 850 ftQueen's University
Categories:	Coffee & Tea

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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards	Yes
Parking	Street
Bike Parking	Yes
Wheelchair Accessible	Yes

Outdoor Seating	Yes
Wi-Fi	Free
Good for Working	Yes

Today

Today	8:00 am – 10:00 pm Open now
Local time (Belfast)	3:47 PM Friday, June 20, 2025

Business hours

Monday	8:00 am – 10:00 pm
Tuesday	8:00 am – 10:00 pm
Wednesday	8:00 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday	8:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday	8:00 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday	10:00 am – 6:30 pm
Sunday	–

Description

Specialties

Not for profit community café in the Holylands area of South Belfast. Serving award winning Fairtrade coffee, delicious lunches and homemade desserts.

All profits are given away to support humanitarian projects in the developing world.

History

Established in 2004.

Common Grounds began as a desire to reach out to the local and global community. Common Grounds is a not-for-profit business. We give away our profits to support humanitarian projects in the Developing World and seek to raise awareness of issues that affect the global poor. To date we have given away almost £56,000.

In May 2003 a group of local committed individuals raised £65,000 towards this project, which enabled us to convert a part of a church building into Common Grounds. We were overwhelmed with support from local businesses, volunteer labour, even a grant from the EU and then in September 2004 we opened to the public.

Common Grounds seeks to reflect values of hospitality, justice, generosity and compassion, that are central to the Christian faith and in so-doing trust that we will find and enjoy common ground with the customers that make up the community that has evolved here.

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20 reviews of Common Grounds

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Baron B.

Place rating: 4
Ballyclare, United Kingdom

Community based coffee shop.
I was here for lunch yesterday, the staff were friendly and the place has a relaxed atmosphere. You could quite happily spend the afternoon watching the world go by.
I had a veggie burrito, it was very tasty, filled with fresh ingredients.
Definitely worth a visit.

Andrew K.

Place rating: 5
Castlereagh, United Kingdom

Community based coffee shop. Friendly staff and chilled atmosphere. Worth checking out!

Tara M.

Place rating: 4
Belfast, United Kingdom

Had a nice chai late today.
Love the social enterprise ethos of this café and the community work they offer to help asylum seekers, those who need food and the friendship group they have.
It has a real family kitchen feel about the place.
The staff could be a little more conversational.
Had nice sandwich. Chicken, almonds, apricot and honey mustard. Would have it again.
Quite a lot of the menu seems spicy so would put me off ordering the dishes.

Emma B.

Place rating: 4
Belfast, United Kingdom

I tried Common Grounds for the first time today, when I went for lunch with a few colleagues. I opted for the Mexican Burrito, which was delicious and filling. The staff were efficient and attentive but didn’t constantly hassle you either. They brought us water to the table a few times which was nice. A relaxing little spot with sofas and quirky artwork, and with free wifi too. As well as a selection of hot food and sandwiches, you can get coffees, tray bakes, slices of cake, and so on. You can sit in or take away. The café is also fair trade, and the money made is not for profit but is for charities — staff even volunteer in the café. I would definitely return.

Ciara S.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

Lovely coffee and food in Common Grounds. Opted for an Americano and veg, feta and almond panini on this visit — very tasty. Have had the yumm bowl and various sandwiches in the past — food has always been really good and fresh. Good veggie options. Very relaxed feel to the place — it’s all comfy sofas, rickety wooden tables and great music playing. Staff are lovely and there’s often interesting art hanging on the walls. A place you could easily spend a few hours lounging in. It’s also fair trade and not for profit which is wonderful. A coffee shop with real heart and soul — a welcome change to all the bland corporate chains out there.

Joseph J.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

Our WordPress work shops take place in common grounds at no charge so straight away they’ve received at least four stars. Their coffee, vibe and overall ambience is great and offers a nice getaway from … Life (deep).

Alyssa B.

Place rating: 4
Belfast, United Kingdom

Great ambiance and decent coffee. Haven’t gotten food here. I like the board for leaving drinks for other people– cute system. I just wish they were open more/later.

Tom S.

Place rating: 5
Xanten, Germany

Nice café
Great idea, to spend the profit to community projects.
And coffee and food are great.

Chris O.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

This place has one of the best atmospheres of any coffee shop in town. It has a very genuine vibe, the sort of place where it became the way it is naturally and not a contrived marketed ‘product’ of a place. It is affiliated with a near by church and so has a strong ethical outlook that involves one of the shops main purposes being to raise money for charity. Due to its position in the Holylands a larger than normal portion of the clientele will be students and younger folk, but its welcoming to all it seems. To add to its appeal it is quite well known for playing host to live performances and having great art (usually for sale) on the walls.
It’s a great place that gets it all right without even looking like its trying.

Tia C.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

I’m a big fan of this café situated near Queens UNi and QFT.
The place has such a nice chilled vibes and both the food and staff are lovely.
The food is really quality and fresh and homemade. I’d really recommend a bowl of their warming soup and some wholemeal bread.
It’s run by a non profit organization so you can feel like you’re doing good when you eat here.
A fantastic place to have a really lazy coffee and read the paper. Why not try one of their buns too, they are delish.

Andrew B.

Place rating: 3
Belfast, United Kingdom

Common grounds is situated in the Holy Lands area in Belfast, just behind Queens University and attached to Belfast City Church.
It is a superb little café and well run. My last time there was a couple of weeks ago for an art gallery display. I could tell they made active steps to get involved in the community. It has a lot of local love and there is a greats sense of community. Its nice to see an organization that isn’t completely driven by turnover and the mighty bottom line.
Every friday night they have local music talent performing, its a great relaxed chilled vibe, one which I would happily just hang out ‘Friends’ style.
Go there if you want some coffee, food and snacks. You will be happy.

Michael M.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

Common Grounds is one of those lovely treats that are tucked away and occasionally stumbled upon. In fact I stumbled upon it one afternoon on a trip to the QFT, it’s a large open plan room with a tree shaded terrace just round the corner from the University.
As it’s a non profit organisation, there’s a laidback feel to it and the eclectic mix of students, lunching businessmen, yummy mummies, bored musicians give it great potential for drawing a coffee out over an hour or so.
There’s a good selection of wraps and sandwiches but it’s the cakes and tray bakes which are the real winners here. I indulged accordingly with a choc brownie and a cappuccino and read some of the many flyers and programmes scattered around.
The staff are friendly and there was no pressure to drink up and vacate the table quickly which is one of my pet hates with some coffee houses.
Pros: Kids specials, early bird special, QFT movie special etc
Cons: You could easily walk past it.

Conor K.

Place rating: 5
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This place is fantastic. It has a very bohemian feel to it and a very relaxed atmosphere. It is situated right in the middle of South Belfasts Holyland’s, which is the epicentre for all things student and student related in this part of the city. The café sells mainly fair trade and uses its profits for charitable means which makes each drink worth while. There’s always random shows and singer song writers performing which adds a little more to the whole experience that you don’t get in the regular joe coffee shops.

Judith C.

Place rating: 4
Belfast, United Kingdom

This is a lovely little café in the heart of student-ville. It tends to be busy most of the time when the students are about, but since it’s a not-for-profit venture, you can’t complain about that.
As far as coffee shops go, it’s probably fairly standard, but the bohemian feel to both it and the clientele and the charitable nature of the whole thing mean that it’s a lovely place to spend an afternoon reading or catching up with friends.
They also put on performances and the like. I’ve never been to one, but like the rest of the café, it’s run by volunteers and I’d imagine the performers aren’t paid, so it’s a nice way for new artists to cut their teeth.

Lyra M.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

Thumbs up to Common Grounds. All proceeds go to charity, so how could you not love it? What is especially nice about Common Grounds, however, is its location, situated in the leafy University district. I can’t imagine a more pleasurable way to spend an afternoon than in this place, hot choc in one hand and a book in the other.

Robbie B.

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

If you are looking for some chilled out tea and coffee time as well as some nice sandwiches and soup then I can’t recommend Common Grounds highly enough.
There is always a good, relaxed atmosphere with a young and friendly staff on hand to help out and flash a smile. There is a good choice of teas, coffees, sandwiches, snacks and, my personal favourite, the pancakes.
All the proceeds go to charity, which, for me lets the place slide for being ever so slightly more pricey than most places in the Holylands and Botanic areas. But I, for one, would rather give my hard earned pennies to charity rather than a big corporation.
Belfast’s hidden gem with plenty of nice chat and music adding to the lovely ambiant atmosphere.
Thumbs Up.

AnnaMa

Place rating: 5
Belfast, United Kingdom

A leafy street coffee shop frequented by students and university staff, hence overheard snippets of conversations are often somewhat high-brow and esoteric. Wooden floors, old-fashioned school chairs and rough chunky tables give this place an earthy, homely yet trendy feel. The food is fresh, homemade and very good and served by friendly, earnest staff. A lovely place to linger over a coffee and ponder life’s big questions.

Crabwi

Place rating: 4
Holywood, United Kingdom

Yes, great coffee here and nice cookies. Studenty clientele and a very Fairtrade leaning. You can book the room at the back for meeting or groups.

Place rating: 3
Belfast, United Kingdom

What would Jesus drink? is the question this café asks but don’t let that put you off as it turns out that the Lord has decent taste in coffee. Founded by a local church to support charities and the Arts, religion is firmly tongue-in-cheek here, with ‘Achocalypse Now’ (mocha latte with a heart of darkness) coffees on the menu. The menu includes sandwiches, paninis, bagels, salads, soups and a range of cakes, cookies and cinnamon scones. Drinks include more than tea and coffee with smoothies, juices and soft drinks.
The staff are friendly if not the fastest sometimes and the sofas comfy, though most of the seating is hard wooden chairs and wobbly tables. But it is easy to feel charitable because of decent food and the smug-sense that your coffee is making the world a better place.

Ai M.

Place rating: 3
Bellflower, CA

I ordered a chunky ham and cheese pannini. Its a good place for sandwiches. My friends chose soup for their first meal in Northern Ireland. There was no live music at the time. We were too jet-lagged to try the pudding.