Vegan-friendly
Take-out
Bakery
British
Fusion
Breakfast
Deli & cafe in Lincoln’s Cathedral Quarter since 2017. Makes coffee and chai drinks, all-vegan bakery treats and cakes, savory foods like full English breakfast, mushrooms on toast, bbq jackfruit sandwich, gyro, mezze platter, and changing specials. Everything is vegan apart from dairy milk option for drinks. Breakfast and lunch menu during weekdays (9am-3.30pm), Brunch on Sundays (10am-2.30pm). Open Tue-Sat 09:00-17:00. Closed Sun-Mon. Hot food until 3.30pm Tue-Sat.
53 Reviews
First Review by ChrisKeith
AmyWoods-Ryan
Points +361
Exceptional vegan breakfast - Edit
Massive and very tasty vegan breakfast!
Read moreGuest
Rosa Mundi
Points +281
Lovely cafe - Edit
Bailgate Deli is in between Lincoln Cathedral and the Castle. The menu was varied and it was great to have so many freshly made things on offer.
Read moreIt is a small cafe but there is outdoor seating and takeaway options.
I had a pastry filled with mushrooms and miso with fries and coleslaw. The portion was so generous that I took half of the pastry home to eat the next day!
The staff were great and service was efficient.
I would be a regular here if only I lived nearer.
Pros: Excellent menu, Lovely staff, Historic area
Guest
Mimidawn17
Points +84
Amazing brekkie! - Edit
Lovely quaint little cafe with good menu and really kind and friendly staff. Also sells bread, cakes and vegan pantry supplies - I am very excited about a tin of mac and cheeze that I found! Highly recommend the full vegan breakfast- with the best hash browns and scrambled tofu.
Read morePros: Delicious fresh food , Lovely staff, Good range of extras to buy
Cons: Very small - can get busy!, Expect a small wait if busy
Guest
JezzaG
Points +22
Amazing deli / cafe - Edit
Lovely friendly deli / cafe with amazing food.
Read moreThe best!
Had the full vegan breakfast, avocado on toast and mushrooms on toast between the three of us and all were great. Good portions, freshly cooked, proper food at a decent price.
You don’t need to be a vegan to come and enjoy it here.
Pros: Quality produce, Good prices
Guest
RuthKaypee
Points +204
Perfect little café - Edit
I was overwhelmed by choice! It’s a small café with four staff working effortlessly to produce and serve high quality, flavoursome vegan food. I opted for the lunchtime summer curry which was light but filling and absolutely delicious. Everyone else’s food in the café looked amazing. Highly recommended.
Read moreGuest
maisiemoo99
Points +280
Best vegan breakfast ever !! - Edit
Visited for the first time today and wow, the full vegan breakfast was absolutely amazing - honestly the best vegan breakfast I’ve had !! Opted for tempeh over sausages which I highly recommend, the flavours were amazing 😍
Read morePros: Amazing flavour, Variety of options
Guest
leadolly
Points +381
Gorgeous food - Edit
Had the falafel salad flatbread with vegan tzatziki, sliced carrot, cous cous, hummus, and more - was so filling and absolutely delicious!
Read morePros: Delicious food, 100% vegan
Cons: Restaurant quite small and cramped
Guest
Galaen
Points +24
Cosy lunch stop - Edit
We braved the Steep Hill climb on a busy Saturday lunchtime trying our luck as we know the cafe can be full quickly but we were pleasantly surprised to get a table!
Read moreSpiced chai latte were nice to start off, served by the welcoming owner of the cafe (although he's retiring!). We had the falafel salad and daal, which were both very filling, fragrant and fresh (the holy trinity). Kitchen is right next to the sitting area of this small cafe so you can see everything😄Chef very helpful and everyone there polite. Hope to go again soon!
Pros: Independant cafe, Fresh healthy but tasty food, Reasonably priced!
Cons: None :)
Guest
EllaStreet
Points +356
Huge vegan breakfast - Edit
Huge vegan breakfast including scrambled tofu, tempeh and incredible sourdough toast. Slow service but worth the wait.
Read morePros: Lots of choice, Vegan products for sale, Friendly staff
Cons: Slow service
Guest
Sara_H
Points +99
Bit confused if it’s plant based or not. - Edit
We went for breakfast this morning. The sign on the window says that everything is plant based, but when we ordered we were offered cows milk. So that then made me worried that other items may have dairy so I changed my order as a result.
Read moreThe food was delicious, but the service was slow, we’d finished our drinks by the time the food arrived.
I would go again, but hope they stop serving dairy and speed up a bit
Updated from previous review on 2023-08-19
Pros: Tasty, good quality food, Lovely setting
Cons: Serving cows milk, Slow service
Guest
DE4THC4P
Points +26
Best breakfast I’ve had - Edit
Really friendly staff , I ordered the full vegan breakfast , and my other half ordered the mushroom and tofu and beans on toast , well it was fantastic and really tasty , the best vegan breakfast I’ve had ever , would definitely go again and would recommend , lovely little place
Read moreGuest
beetpig
Points +45
Delicious 😋 - Edit
Great....no fantastic food and service. The staff really care about the food and service.
Read morePros: Quality of the food., Great staff., Easy to find.
Guest
RomanKellerbnb
Points +347
Super Frühstück - Edit
Wir sind zum Frühstücken ins Bailgate Deli gegangen. Alles war sehr lecker und das Personal sehr freundlich. Vielen Dank
Read morePros: Grosse Auswahl an veganen Speisen , Sehr freundliches Team , Lecker
Guest
Heath3r
Points +326
Nice breakfast menu - Edit
Full vegan breakfast was really good!
Read moreGuest
ChrisLN
Points +36
Excellent bean burger! - Edit
First visit in the New Year and was delighted with the new recipe bean burger. “Home-made”, fantastic flavours and generous portion in a good-sized ciabatta. Outstanding!
Read moreAs a vegetarian for almost 40 years and a vegan for almost 5, I’ve plenty of experience in searching out and enjoying now vegan food all over the UK and around the world. I feel fortunate to be Lincoln-based and to have the Bailgate Deli close at hand, my favourite, go-to option for vegan breakfast and lunches. The food is always freshly prepared, of excellent quality, very fairly priced and served by enthusiastic staff. Well worth a visit!
Updated from previous review on 2022-08-16
Pros: Quality of food, Vegan groceries available for purchase, Super-friendly staff
Guest
Oliviahollie
Points +16
Cows milk given without request - Edit
We visited today and ordered some coffee. The menu says everything is plant based (no mention of cows milk option). Luckily I could see our drinks being made and cows milk was used for my order. When they were brought over I questioned if cows milk has been used. I believe we were served by the owner who explained they “wouldn’t survive if they didn’t serve cows milk”. Fair enough- but surely it would be better to have this available on request? After discussion with the vegan group on Facebook for my area, another person reported the same experience but with a different member of staff. Worrying to see cows milk is the standard order now in this establishment. Personally, I think it needs to be MUCH clearer that this is an option. I can see on Happy Cow it is listed that dairy is an option but this is nowhere in the actual cafe. I had my drink remade and the coffee was actually very nice but PLEASE be careful if you’re vegan or have allergies. There is also no regard shown for cross contamination. I really think they need to rebrand as vegetarian, not plant based.
Read morePros: Nice tasting coffee
Cons: Long wait , Cows milk used without request
bailgatedeli
Bailgate Deli is a source of intense pride for all of us who work here. We’ve changed a moribund health food shop into a flourishing café with a wonderful community of customers we closely engage with and know well. We’ve made plant based food a normal part of everyday life in our locality, in a way that has been radical. We’ve done so in a quiet, considered and thoughtful manner, understanding that the journey for some people is much more difficult than for others.
Read moreIn recent years we’ve been looking hard at the drinks offer, which for most cafés, us included, represents critical core income. We’ve quietly maintained dairy milk for the still considerable constituency that will not accept other milks. We will succeed in moving to plant based drink alone but there is still a lot of work ahead. We are on a mission to be agents of change.
On Sunday your friends asked for coffees. They didn’t spec the drinks, which was very, very unusual for people wanting plant based milks. I’m sorry to say that your visit was at the end of a long breakfast session and I didn’t ask the questions about what sort of milk you wanted, which is our normal practice. My apologies for that.
We will work in our own way to make a good world. Bailgate Deli will work hard, as it does, in talking with customers, soliciting and driving change. We have hundreds of customers who have made changes you would applaud and many more who are still on a journey.
I deplore your hasty splatting of comments across the web without the substantial discussion that could have and should have been held beforehand.
Guest
husbandofVegan
Points +22
Yummy Vegan breakfast, quality bread and lovely people. - Edit
Wife is a long term Vegan so I found this place last night when on holiday 8miles away and thought to treat her to a full Vegan breakfast. She was in Heaven as the quality of all the ingredients were really exceptional and so well cooked!
Read moreMy sausage (vegan) in a beautiful crispy roll (The Welbeck Bakehouse) was so filling and as a meat eater I genuinely loved it, especially with such lovely black coffee!
Such lovely people to boot!!!!!!!!! Thanks folks.
They are on the Happy Cow app that I put on my wife’s phone ages ago but as a treat for her I had to Google ‘Vegan restaurant Lincoln’ so have since downloaded Happy Cow app onto my phone too, it’s seriously brilliant to find places to treat your Vegan family to treats.
PS The sourdough Bread from the Welbeck artisan Bakehouse is amazing and soooo crispy, you can buy it from the Bailgate Deli, I would if I lived nearer.
Pros: Lovely people, Real quality Vegan everything, The bread mmmmmmm
Cons: No cons to my wife & I
Guest
catcus
Points +16
Amazing!! - Edit
Lovely small independent cafe. Had the best full English I've ever had out. Full of flavour, generous portion size and really reasonably priced. Staff were very friendly and welcoming too. Definitely recommend!!
Read moreGuest
NaomiChambers
Points +38
Fantastic spot for yummy Vegan food. - Edit
The delicious cooked breakfast was the perfect reward after a morning spent sightseeing and trekking around. Tasty and filling. Would highly recommend.
Read morePros: Amazing cooked breakfast , Friendly staff, Plenty of options
Guest
Barty71
Points +24
Superb breakfasts! - Edit
I’ve eaten here twice recently and the full vegan breakfast is something to behold! Excellent service and a good range of food catering for all tastes.
Read morePros: Food is piping hot and super tasty, Great portion size , Very friendly welcome and service
Cons: Would prefer it if they didn’t offer dairy milk.
Guest
lindseebee
Points +73
Fantastic Full Vegan Breakfast - Edit
Great food and friendly staff in a beautiful part of Lincoln. Worth the walk up the hill! Looking forward to returning to try the day time menu.
Read morePros: One of the best tofu scrambles I have tried. , Every bit of the brekkie was delicious. , They sell Vego chocolate! 😋
Guest
Fadryn
Points +122
Great options - Edit
Love the food here but they don’t have much table space so if you manage to get a table you are really lucky. The vegan options are delicious!
Read moreGuest
AdelleTudor
Points +244
Great little deli! - Edit
What an amazing little deli. It can seat 13 people inside and about 9 outside. It also offers takeaway. The decor/artwork is really great to look at.
Read moreI chose the wrap which was described as having tempeh and hummus. It sounded a bit dull to be honest but I wanted something slightly healthy. I was absolutely blown away, the tempeh was marinated and cooked perfectly, there were some amazing flavours going on either in the hummus or an additional sauce, a bit curry-like. And the wrap was delicious too with a great texture.
I also had a mocha with oat milk which was also delicious, I even asked what milk they used because it was so good - Alpro Oat Barista!
There are so many items available to buy from the deli - condiments, pasta, frozen, fresh, cheeses, chocolate etc.
Pros: All vegan options, Simple menu, not too many choices, Amazing value for money
Cons: Some options need a bit more description
Guest
trekstein
Points +157
Delightful Deli in Lincoln - Edit
Conveniently-situated, right in the heart of Lincoln’s tourist attractions. A very friendly and welcoming café.
Read morePros: Friendly , Sunny, Tasty food
Cons: Quite cramped (did not spoil the experience)., Small menu.
Guest
Klarajj
Points +2098
Wonderful - Edit
Lovely lunch place with a great vegan pantry. Staff are so friendly. We loved this place!
Read morePros: Friendly , Choice, Affordable
Guest
KirstyElizabeth89
Points +266
Delicious breakfast! - Edit
Adorable little cafe.
Read moreWe both had the full vegan and a chai oat latte. Incredible!
We also left with a bag full of goodies including some fresh sour dough bread.
Lots of cakes for sale, we were too full from the amazing breakfast to try!
Guest
frances_collett
Points +45
Amazing food, amazing staff - Edit
Incredible food, the entire menu was vegan. Great value for money and amazing staff. Good selection of vegan products to buy too.
Read morePros: Entire menu was vegan, Great food , Lovely staff
Guest
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