Green Plaque: 2i's Coffee Bar

A green plaque fixed to the building at fifty-nine Old Compton Street marks the site of the two i's Coffee Bar. Opened on April twenty-second, nineteen fifty-six, by professional wrestlers Paul Lincoln and Ray Hunter, the venue became a cramped hub for the emerging British rock and roll scene. The establishment occupied a small space with an espresso machine upstairs, while a narrow stairway led down to a basement cellar.