Exam season is on the way and if your assignments are piling up, having trouble studying at home, constantly disturbed by your family or roommates, and desperately in need of a pick-me-up, then check out these 5 student friendly cafes and restaurants in Chennai, that offer a place for you to study, work and unwind peacefully, with a quiet and cool ambience, delectable and reasonably priced food & drinks, as well as free Wi-Fi.
1. Bread & Chocolate, Alwarpet
Bread and Chocolate, located on Cenotaph Road in Alwarpet, is a cozy, comfortable café for students to work and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate, or any of their delicious brewed coffees. Rows of translucent roofing provide ample daylight to all parts of the restaurant and every corner is well lit. The food is health oriented, being one of the few known cafes to offer tasty vegan options as well as non veg on their menu. There is free WIFI if you choose to sit and work at one of the café’s many quiet corners, as the restaurant is never too crowded. The ambience is quite modern with a French touch. After all, it aims to recreate the feel of Puducherry, where Bread & Chocolate’s original branch flourishes.
The highlight of Bread and Chocolate is its baked goods and pastries. The breads are soft as clouds on the inside with a thin crunchy crust, and the croissants are amazingly buttery and fluffy. They have a wide range of other baked goodies like their famous chocolate babka, tarts and vegan cakes. The staff are polite, professional and service oriented.
The food is rightly priced but some may feel it’s on the more expensive side for a cup of coffee. One has to place the order at the counter and pay for the food beforehand, like in self-service, which may seem inconvenient but works well too.
2. Writer’s Café, Egmore
Writer’s Cafe, located in Egmore, offers customers a chance to work, as well as unwind, in a modest yet spacious cafe. The cafe has big glass walls overlooking the road which provides a modern look to the place as well as plenty of natural light. Their innovative pizza style, flammenkuchen, is a great take on German-style pizzas. They are quite filling and you have the choice of making your own flammenkuchen. The cafe is quite work-friendly and also offers a small library if you choose to have a leisurely read while sipping one of their wide selections
of coffee. The standout item on their menu is their delicious ice creams supplied by Amelie’s. They also have pastries to choose from but the ice creams overshadow them just a little, mainly because of the creaminess and assortment of flavours. This place is quite pocket-friendly and students may find themselves coming here more often than not. Although there are 4 other outlets
located in Gopalapuram, Tharamani, VR Mall and Adyar, this one is the most appealing and seems to be the one with the least crowd, which makes it a perfect place to grab a brew and get to work.
3. Backyard, Adyar
Backyard, located in Adyar, is a beautiful bungalow that has been converted into a cafe with open roof dining as well as indoor. The unlimited WIFI paired with comfortable seating will definitely have you spending a couple of hours here. The place is decorated with modest furniture with colourful accents. The concept behind Backyard is to attract more people interested in coworking or working in general, but if you do find yourself needing a break from the hustle, they have a wide range of games you can pick out and play. They also host events frequently from open mics to seminars, and are open to renting out their space for photoshoots and other events. The food is
homemade and delicious, and the standout is their samosas which are a real treat on a rainy day. Backyard is focused on building a comfortable work environment for anyone looking to spend hours brainstorming or even just getting monotonous work done. Their food is quite inexpensive which appeals to the younger crowd who often fill the place up. The service is prompt and professional, and the owners seem to really care about customers having a good experience, which makes this place feel like a second home to most.
4.#Stories Library Café, K K Nagar
Stories Library Cafe located in K.K. Nagar, is a bookworm's dream café, with a wide selection of books accompanied by delicious tea and coffee. It is a great place to grab a book and read for hours. The entire cafe is decorated with books as the main theme, with one wall covered by famous books and another covered with cover page art. The food is tasty and appeals to all age groups. This is a good place to read and grab a snack, ranging from various kinds of Maggi to burgers and pastries, if you don't want to shell out too much money. The ambience is peaceful and much like a library, which also makes it a great place to work. The staff are polite and very prompt with service. The cafe also has an outdoor seating arrangement and sometimes events like open mics are held here, so if the book you're reading gets a little boring, then there's always live entertainment to snatch your attention.
5. Coffee? since 1999, Thousand Lights
Coffee? since 1999, is located in Gopalapuram near Thousand Lights mosque. What was once a small home with a home-coffee machine and closed down, has reopened with a modern twist including microbrews and more. Today the cafe has been remodeled and looks like a modern coffee house. The cafe overlooks a Futsal pitch, and therefore always provides some kind of entertainment, which is a nice touch, but can get crowded during matches. The coffee selection is quite unusual but delicious and their food selection is quite wide too. The food is absolutely delicious and worth the money, considering this is slightly pricier than the other cafes. On weekdays it makes for a great place to work, although the weekends can get quite crowded as this cafe is very popular among the
foodies of Chennai. The ambience is lovely, with a lot of natural spread across the floor space. The staff are very professional and service is quite fast. The highlight of this cafe is definitely the gourmet coffee; the brews are incredibly aromatic and pack a kick with every sip. They have a wide range of espresso shots and pour-overs that are exotic. Pair a cup of exotic coffee and a laptop and you may find yourself with a new favourite workspace.
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