Squash is an independent community-owned food hub, 100% vegetarian café, and organic grocery shop based at 112-114 Windsor Street in Toxteth (L8). Founded in 2007 by artists and food activists Becky Vipond and Clare Owens, the social enterprise opened its purpose-built eco-building in 2018, constructed with local residents using sustainable timber, natural clay plaster, and salvaged materials.
What Squash does
Squash uses good food as a tool for social justice, community health, and neighbourhood empowerment in Liverpool 8. The building combines an all-day vegetarian café, an organic community grocery shop, and a teaching kitchen that connects directly to street-side raised beds and an urban community food garden. The space is filled with natural timber, thriving indoor plants, communal dining tables, and large windows that overlook the garden, creating an inclusive, warm neighbourhood living room.
The enterprise is rooted in mutual aid and food sovereignty. Alongside everyday trading, Squash runs volunteer gardening days, community cooking clubs, seed-swapping events, and herbal medicine workshops.
The 100% vegetarian café: Garden to table
The café kitchen prepares fresh, plant-based food from scratch every morning, incorporating seasonal vegetables and culinary herbs harvested directly from the Windsor Street garden plots:
- Seasonal Soups and Dahls: Daily rotating bowls such as spiced coconut sweet potato soup, slow-simmered red lentil dahl, and garden root vegetable broth, served with warm homemade bread.
- In-House Artisan Baking: Sourdough loaves, golden rosemary focaccia, wholemeal sodas, vegan fruit scones with homemade berry jam, and dark chocolate beetroot brownies.
- Seasonal Salad Platters: Nutritious bowls combining roasted grains, toasted seeds, pickled garden vegetables, and fresh herb pestos.
- Hot Toasties and Specials: Toasted sourdough sandwiches with vegan cheese, roasted peppers, and homemade tomato chutney, alongside weekly global specials reflecting the rich multicultural culinary heritage of Toxteth.
The community food shop and zero-waste refills
Adjacent to the seating area, the community grocery shop provides high-quality, affordable wholefoods:
- Organic fruit and vegetables sourced from local North West growers and the Squash gardens.
- Zero-waste dry goods dispensers for oats, lentils, rice, dried beans, seeds, and pasta.
- Refill stations for organic washing-up liquids, laundry detergents, and culinary oils.
- Fairtrade organic spices, loose-leaf herbal teas, local preserves, and honey gathered from Squash's own rooftop beehives.
Solidarity in action: Soup-it-Forward
Squash operates an active solidarity model to ensure financial difficulty never prevents local neighbours from eating well. Through the "Soup-it-Forward" and "Box-it-Forward" schemes, customers can add an extra donation to their bill to purchase a hot meal or a fresh vegetable box for someone in the community experiencing hardship, distributed discreetly with zero stigma.
Prices and visiting details
Pricing is deliberately kept fair and affordable for the local community (checked September 2026):
- Hot homemade soup or dahl with freshly baked bread: £4.00 to £5.50
- Artisan sourdough toasties and salad plates: £5.00 to £7.00
- Freshly baked scones and cakes: £2.00 to £3.50
- Speciality coffees, herbal teas and cold drinks: £2.00 to £3.20
- Organic sourdough loaves (take home): £3.50 to £4.50
- Zero-waste wholefoods: Sold by weight at fair co-op rates
The café is open Wednesday through Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday) with walk-in seating. Dogs on leads are welcome in the outdoor garden and terrace. Payments are taken by card or cash.
Around Windsor Street and Toxteth
Squash sits on Windsor Street in the heart of L8, close to the Tiber Street football centre, Princes Park, and the multi-ethnic culinary shops along Lodge Lane. It is an eighteen-minute walk from Liverpool Central station and the Georgian Quarter.
To learn more about local dining and community spots, read our guide to where to eat in Liverpool by area.
