Pink LaneCoffee

Pink Lane Coffee opened in 2012 at the foot of the lane that gives it its name, a short walk from Central Station. Founder Anth Atkinson set the business up as a collective, so staff hold a stake in the company rather than working for a single owner-manager. Coffee is roasted at a separate site in Sandyford and supplied wholesale to cafés, restaurants, hotels and homes across the country, while the café itself serves espresso, pour-over and cold brew alongside a full food menu. It has been certified as a Real Living Wage employer. The narrow terraced building keeps a small footprint, with most trade taken at the counter and a handful of window seats looking onto the lane. It remains one of the city's original speciality coffee shops, predating the wave of roasters that followed it.