Brad and Dills is the brainchild of Harpenden school friends Alex Rowling and Olly Denley. After years of working in London, they decided that it was time to try something new and moved back to Hertfordshire to open a coffee shop together. The intention was to bring the London coffee scene to Herts with an offering of top quality drinks and tasty bagels.
What started initially as a coffee van in lockdown, quickly moved to their first premises in Southdown, Harpenden fondly named ‘The Cottage’. From there they have expanded to ‘The Park’ at Rothamsted Park in Harpenden; ‘Swift’ a former dry cleaner in St Albans; ‘Market Square in Hertford; and their most recent opening ‘The Hill’ near the Royal Free Hospital in Belsize Park.
Coffees are definitely excellent at Brad and Dills, we’ve tried in multiple locations! But the real story is the bagels. They come wrapped in paper as if it was a takeaway, but they maintain their heat that way and keep everything neat and tidy, temporarily! There’s a great range including The Reuben (pastrami, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut), Classic Salmon (with chive and lemon cream cheese and dill pickles), but our favourite is definitely the Pollo Picante (fried chicken with nduja mayo, mozzarella and onions).
In our experience, there’s no way to eat these bagels without making a bit of a mess, but who cares when they taste so good!
For more of our Hertfordshire recommendations, click here
