Places to eat in Swindon

We’ve rounded up our favourite places to eat in our dedicated Swindon restaurants page – from farm-fresh organic meat to Brazilian BBQs, we’ve got it all covered.

When it comes to eating out, there are lots of great cafés and restaurants dotted around Swindon but we’d recommend making your way to Old Town. It’s full of independent places pushing the food scene forward.

It’s a tough call, but we’d say that Darkroom Espresso near The Parade shopping centre serves up the best coffee in Swindon. Opened in 2014, they take their caffeine very seriously with five to 10 different coffee beans at any one time and specially trained baristas who can deliver the perfect macchiato or flat white every time.

Running them very close is the Baristocats Coffee Lounge just off Commercial Road. The coffees share equal billing with the desserts, smoothies and sandwiches, with the banana cake a perennial favourite.

Part café, bar and vinyl record shop, Baila Coffee & Vinyl is undoubtedly one of the coolest spots in town. It turns into a hopping cocktail bar in the evenings and on the weekends, with some of the best DJs in Swindon dropping an eclectic but always funky soundtrack.

Balula’s is another top option. It’s a delicatessen on Wood Street with an incredible selection of award-winning local produce. Towards the back of the store, they’ve also got a coffee lounge that does great sandwiches, cakes and hot drinks.

Swindon’s healthy option in Old Town is The Core. It’s a cool place and their food and smoothies are healthy and delicious. They come in takeaway bottles as well if you want to grab something on the go.

Perched on the edge of The Brunel Shopping Centre is the Crunch Coffee Shop, a cosy and always busy café. It is open for breakfast and lunch, as well as offering a range of well-made coffees – including a wide range of flavourings – and freshly baked cakes. There’s also an outdoor terrace for sunnier times, or when the café is experiencing one of its regular busy spells.

With over 20 stalls, the Swindon Outlet Farmers’ Market is an award-winning local market and runs every Sunday from 10am-4pm. As well as the usual choice of free-range meats, local cheeses, jams and fruit and vegetables, they have a drool-worthy array of hot food stands, including bacon rolls, burgers and falafels, making it the perfect place to grab breakfast or lunch on the go. And it’s handily placed next to the Steam Museum to help make a day of it.

Head down to Havelock Square every Thursday from 9am-2pm to take advantage of the Havelock Food Market. The latest addition to the food market scene in Swindon, the market is held in the centre of town just next to the Brunel Shopping Centre and is packed with stalls selling a range of local produce. These include freshly picked fruits, fresh bread and pastries, free-range cupcakes and more.

Completing the food market scene is the Swindon Country Market held every Friday morning from 9am-midday at St. Aldhelm’s Hall. From local jams, fruit and veg to baked goods, flowers and plants, it’s a small-scale and quaint local market perfect for more relaxed shoppers.