Opening times
Roots Café is open Monday to Friday, from 8.00 - 16.00 in termtime and during holidays.
Please note that all outlets are shut during Imperial's Easter and Christmas closure days.
Find all outlet opening hours here.
Location
Roots Café can be found in the White City Professional Services Hub. Please note you will need your college ID to access the building.
Welcome to Roots Café, your one-stop shop for hot lunches, grab-and-go snacks, healthy treats and fresh barista coffee right in the heart of the White City Professional Services Hub.
From 8.00 to 10.30, swing by to grab yourself some breakfast with our hearty porridge, yoghurt and granola pots, bircher and overnight oats as well as a range of freshly baked pastries and treats.
Our lunch service runs from 11.45 to 14.30, with a range of hot and cold options. Our salad bar bursting with fresh flavour, optional meat and vegan protein add-ons and a range of toppings and dressings.
We also serve a two daily hot dishes - always including a plant-based option. Choices range from tagines to gnocchi to stir fries, with something fresh and new every day.
Our soup is made fresh daily by our chefs, our soups are always vegan, often made using surplus veg from our other dishes. At just £1.80 for a bowl of soup with a demi-baguette and your choice of toppings, this eco-friendly, wallet-friendly choice is a no-brainer!
Plus, you can find sandwiches, snacks and treats available all day. Grab one of our great value meal deal bundles or treat yourself to one of our Imperial Eats artisan baguettes - developed by our in-house chefs and made fresh on campus every day!
Roots Café was purpose-built as the White City Hub was being developed, so it's been planned around you from the ground up
Find a huge range of hot, cold, healthy or indulgent options each day to suit your cravings at every time of day
As well as operating as a café, Roots' space is regularly transformed for one of Taste Imperial's food and drink Masterclasses and events including beer tasting, sushi making and more
The story of our name
Roots Café was built from scratch when Imperial opened the White City Professional Services Hub, allowing us to design the space around our colleagues from the ground up, considering exactly what they would need from a café in the heart of their new workspace.
As part of this we ran a naming competition, calling for names along a botanical or biological theme, reflecting Imperial's values and vision; allowing our community to shape their space.
We received so many great suggestions - the list was full of scientific ideas, reflecting noted individuals, Imperial projects and words we'd never even heard of. You can read our shortlist of chosen names below!
We finally settled on Roots Café, a named submitted by Ellie in the Property Division, who wrote this about her pick:
Shortlisted names included:
Greenhouse Café - "Our floor has this wonderful open space with light pouring down from the ceiling - much like a greenhouse!"
Nectar Café - "The sweet liquid produced by flowers to attract pollinators, nectar symbolises nourishment and warmth, a space that draws people in"
Goodall Café - "After the incredible Dame Jane Goodall, the world's most foremost primatologist and a champion of women in science"
Sylvan Café - "A shady, wooded area - sylvan suggests a peaceful, pleasant feeling, as though you were far away from the noise of modern life"
BotanIQ - "A play on 'botanic' and 'IQ' - a nod to the intelligent systems of plants and Imperial's scientific roots"