Looking for refreshments?

There is a new cafe called Eat at Bloom on the lower-ground floor in Senate House. Open to all members with a library card. Access from the ground floor is down wooden stairs with step-free access from the lower ground floor.  Term time hours as of 2025 are 8:00am - 5:30pm with lunch service: 11:30am – 2:00pm

Members of the Hellenic and Roman Societies and other readers in the Library or visitors to the Institute of Classical Studies are most welcome to use any these facilities.

There are also a number of restaurants and cafés in nearby Store Street (directly opposite the Malet Street entrance between Gower Street and Tottenham Court Road); or, on the other side of Senate House, there are cafés close to Russell Square including an Italian café in the gardens. In the nearby Brunswick Shopping Centre just beyond Russell Square underground station there are more cafés / restaurants as well as several supermarkets. In October 2021, The Warburg Institute posted information for their new students on their blog - scroll down the section Places to eat for an extensive list of recommended places in Bloomsbury.

If you have your own refreshments and wish to have somewhere to sit, or simply want to talk with friends or colleagues, in addition to the seating area available by the library entrance, the School of Advanced Study lobby on the 2nd floor of Senate House has a number of comfortable seating areas. Please feel welcome to use this space.  It is permitted to take still bottled water into the library.