Cafe with seating area but no toilet??

[girlfriend44]

Went into a fairly well known chain yesterday. American.
Sat down and had food and drink . I noticed no toilets. When I asked they said there were public toilets over the road?
Found this strange? I thought all cafes etc had to have toilets I'd they served food and drink?
Am I wrong then?

Absolutely agree with you and as a paid up grumpy old woman have been seething about the reduced toilet facilities nearly everywhere. I noticed it start during Covid when places felt they had a good reason to shut loos or refuse use of them to the public- not just cafes, shops and public toilets too. Most of them never reopened once they went and it’s obviously to do with the cost of keeping them clean and maintained. I’m happy for all you perky young Mumsnetters with nice elastic bladders who don’t need a wee while out for a few hours but believe me, have 3 kids and get to my age and that won’t last! The Victorians called it the urinary leash - the window of time a female could stay out of the house without needing to return home to use the lavatory. Mine is getting shorter as I age and I will not spend my cash in places that don’t provide facilities or aren’t convenient to them. I wouldn’t be eating or drinking there again op!

10 or more seats and toilets should be available.

For me it's not just about being able to go the the loo although tea/coffee goes through me like a sieve.It's about being able to wash your hands before eating food.Basic hygiene IMO

When I first went to London with teh kids we ended up in a pret with sandwiches and they ahd no toilet - I genuinely don't understand how we were supposed to eat a sandwich without washign our hands first - we'd been on public transport all day! The lovely woman who served us let us use the staff sink and said we were the first people to ever mention it.

Yes, luckily I hand my hand sanitizer with me. I agree with you.

It’s really annoying. London in particular. Visited last year with recently toilet trained 2 year old. So many cafes had loads of seats, like 20-30 and no toilets. So I would paid for coffee and cake and think of I pop into toilet with toddler and they were non existent.

Covent Garden pisses me off, sat at fancy bar with 2 year old napping in pram, Ordered drink for myself whilst I waited for dh to finish work and join us. Ds woke up and needed a wee and the only place they have is the main public toilets which are about 5 mins through crowds and down flights of stairs. And you have to pay. And the bar said if I left I couldn’t have table saved…

I owned a cafe with 70 seats. Environmental Health said that if there were public toilets nearby we did not need to open our staff toilets to the public.
We were very careful if asked if people could use it. Children always said yes but adults not so much after having the sick pulled off the wall 🤷‍♀️ tiles ripped off etc. also found someone using it to take drugs.

It is such a shame but it's another example of how a minority of people ruin it for everyone else. My local council has just shut the last of the public loos due to drugs/ vandalism. I don't think that unless you've actually been the one trying to sort out the carnage afterwards you can understand quite how bad it can be.

I think it depends on the amount of seating that they provide.