A unique café experience in the heart of Sandwich, Kent.
The Waiting Room is a café bar located in the heart of the medieval cinque port town of Sandwich, Kent.
We offer a range of delicious coffees made with our own bespoke coffee blend called TWR22 | House Blend. By day we serve a varied menu of freshly baked croissants, homemade sandwiches, and a delicious selection of cakes - with a keen focus on locally sourced produce, where possible.
Our drinks menu features an extensive range of wines, champagnes, and cocktails, along with Peroni and Meantime on tap. We cater for those special moments with the quintessentially British tradition of Afternoon Tea, indulgent sharing boards, and a selection of hot plates.
A loving restoration by the Waite family.
The Waiting Room is owned, loved, and run by a local family with deep routes in the charming town of Sandwich. It began, and continues to be, a passion project in which the Waite family dreamt of breathing life back into the unique building in a way that celebrated its history and provided the local community a warm, welcoming hub.
We’re proud to have restored the former East Kent Road Car Company Waiting Room into a ‘go-to’ stop in the heart of Sandwich for our community and visitors to the town. The building was first opened in 1922 and exactly 100 years later, after a careful and loving restoration, by the owners, we re-opened its doors again with unique details including 22 hanging lights and serving our exclusive TWR22 | House Blend coffee in homage to its founding years.
Throughout the restoration of the East Kent Road Car Company building the Waite family paid particular importance in ensuring homage was paid to the building’s heritage. With no expense spared, the building is packed full of special details including a stunning gold Burlington high level toilet to give a nod to the era, the original quarry tiles and doors, were brought back to life. The original bench seating from 1922 had a makeover with bespoke, hand made leather cushions, crafted in Italy boasting the finest Connolly leather, used by Rolls Royce and Bentley, subtly giving a nod to the wider, founding automotive business TWR is a part of.
The rich history of The Waiting Room
The unique venue is situated opposite the Guildhall and has a rich history, originally serving as the East Kent ticket office and waiting room. Lovingly restored, The Waiting Room reopened as a cafe in 2022, exactly 100 years after its original opening date.
The Waiting Room is owned, loved, and run by a local family with deep routes in the charming town of Sandwich. It began, and continues to be, a passion project in which the Waite family dreamt of breathing life back into the unique building in a way that celebrated its history and provided the local community a warm, welcoming hub.
The Golden Throne
22 glowing lights
Luxury Leather
Locally sourced quality ingredients
We aim to offer our customers high quality food and drinks options and, where possible, locally sourced ingredients.
Hinxden Farm Dairy
To ensure our coffees are THE best in Sandwich we compliment our TWR 22 | House Blend with fresh milk from our local, award winning, Hinxden Farm Dairy. A family run dairy for 4 generations, Hinxden Farm’s herds of Pedigree Holstein and Guernsey cows graze on the lush grasses of the Garden of England.
TWR Brownie
Whilst our TWR Brownie may be our little trade secret, we can reveal that it is locally made… our MD’s wife picks it up and delivers it herself! It’s rather special… she may even sneak a piece as a ‘manager’s fee’!
Chandler & Dunn
We're proud to fill our sandwiches and breakfast ciabattas with high quality meats from our award winning local butcher Chandler & Dunn, including butcher’s bacon, the 'Sandwich' sausage, ham and salt beef.
Gusbourne
Our premium collection of wines features a sprinkling from the celebrated local vineyard Gusbourne, a producer of fine English still and sparkling wines, handcrafted right here in Kent.
Simpsons’ Wine Estate
Firmly and proudly on our menu is one of our most local vineyards Simpsons’ Wine Estate - boasting exquisite English wines of great provenance and presence, thanks to the viticulture afforded by the Elham Valley in the North Downs. Top tip - their Pinot Meunier is… quite something! Come to think of it, so is their Railway Hill Rosé!
Chapel Down
We’re a bar located in Kent… of course we feature the Award Winning Chapel Down on our menu!
Kingsdown Water
We supply a range of sparkling and still water and Kingsdown Sparkling Pressés from a premium local brand, located just outside the village of Kingsdown situated in the heart of the North Downs, their waters benefit from a natural purity and quality due to the chalk of the North Downs.
Chegworth Valley
Keeping it Kentish our fruit juices are hand-picked and farm-pressed single varietal and unique blended juices direct from family-run Lane Farm in Chegworth, Kent, originally part of the Leeds Castle Estate.
Our very own coffee blend.
The Waiting Room is a café bar located in the heart of the medieval cinque port town of Sandwich, Kent.
We offer a range of delicious coffees made with our own bespoke coffee blend called TWR22 | House Blend. By day we serve a varied menu of freshly baked croissants, homemade sandwiches, and a delicious selection of cakes - with a keen focus on locally source produce, where possible.
Our drinks menu features an extensive range of wines, champagnes, and cocktails, along with Peroni and Meantime on tap. We cater for those special moments with the quintessentially British tradition of Afternoon Tea, indulgent sharing boards, and a selection of hot plates.