Nestled on Bethnal Green Road, E. Pellicci’s stands as London’s oldest family-run café, a tribute to resilience across 125 years of operation. Established in 1900 by Priamo Pellicci after purchasing the business from a fellow Tuscan employer, this East End institution has weathered two World Wars, a global pandemic, and countless changes to the surrounding cityscape.
The café’s story is one of remarkable family dedication. After Priamo’s death from tuberculosis in 1931, his wife Elide ran the establishment single-handedly while raising seven children. Their son Nevio Senior, born in the rooms above the café, managed the business until 2008. Today, the café remains in family hands with Nevio (grandson of the founders), Anna, Maria, and other relatives continuing the tradition. The iconic E. Pellicci’s initial on the vitroglass fascia remains as a tribute to Elide’s leadership.
E. Pellicci’s distinctive appearance earned it Grade-II listed status in 2005, protecting its Art Deco-style paneled wooden décor created in 1946 by regular customer and carpenter Achille Capocci. The primrose-yellow Vitrolite façade, crafted from a material no longer in production, makes it one of only two 20th-century cafés with such architectural protection in London. Customers often describe the intimate dining space as having a front room feeling, creating an atmosphere more like visiting family than a restaurant.
The menu has evolved considerably since its early days when it sold cigarettes, sweets, and basic fare like egg and chips. By the 1980s, Italian cuisine had become a staple, though the café maintains its commitment to honest, keenly-priced meals made from fresh ingredients daily. Kitchen veteran Maria is especially renowned for her hand-cut chips that have delighted customers for over five decades.
Portraits of Priamo and Elide flank the serving hatch, watching over a space that has become deeply woven into the fabric of East London. The café’s cultural significance extends beyond food, featuring in oral histories and artistic depictions of London life.
Despite the constant flux of the city around it, with skyscrapers rising and falling, E. Pellicci’s remains preserved in amber, a slice of Victorian London that continues to serve its community with the same warmth and dedication that began with a Tuscan immigrant family over a century ago.
