Sandwiches and Sleuths: the restaurant that was made famous by ‘Sherlock’
Even though the entire series consists of just 12 episodes and a Christmas special, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s Sherlock didn’t need to inundate viewers with episodes to become one of the most iconic British TV shows of the 21st century.
Benedict Cumberbatch owes his entire career to the role of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective. The actor evolved from an unknown to a household name almost overnight thanks to a star-making performance, with Martin Freeman proving to be a more than capable straight man as John Watson.
Even though Sherlock hasn’t aired any new episodes since January 2017, the clamour for more has never subsided, with all of the key members of the creative team continuing to be asked if there’s a chance the band could ever get back together for more.
It helped introduce the character to a new generation alongside Robert Downey Jr’s blockbuster-sized spin on the intrepid protagonist in Guy Ritchie’s movies and turned out to be of huge importance to a humble sandwich shop that instantly became a pilgrimage site for Sherlock supporters the world over after taking pride of place on-screen.
Although the interior didn’t get a huge amount of screentime, Speedy’s Sandwich Bar & Café nonetheless found itself doing bigger business than ever before after Sherlock‘s geography placed it right next door to his 221B Baker Street address. Native Londoners know that isn’t the case, of course, but the small business owners were hardly going to argue.
The exterior for the Baker Street location shoots – and, by extension, Speedy’s – are filmed on North Gower Street in the city’s Bloomsbury district, roughly a mile away from the actual Baker Street in Marleybone. Only regular customers would have noticed such a thing, but the cafe ended up becoming an integral part of the series in more ways than one.
In addition to being next door to the residence of the world-renowned sleuth, in one episode Watson and Mycroft Holmes meet inside of Speedy’s to discuss the death of Irene Adler and how they’d explain it to Sherlock, while Mrs. Hudson was a regular frequenter who became friendly with proprietor Mr. Chatterjee.
In The Abominable Bride, Speedy’s even got a period-accurate makeover after being rebranded as Speedwell’s Coffee and Sandwich Bar when Cumberbatch’s Sherlock was experiencing a 19th-century flight of fancy. The owner, Chris Georgiou, makes a cameo appearance as a carriage driver passing by his own establishment.
Sherlock may have been off the air for close to a decade at this point. Still, thanks to the volume of fans it retains around the world and will no doubt continue to gather, Speedy’s has continued reaping the rewards of being associated with such a popular TV series by leaning into its connections to the mystery thriller.
