Shop front: Riff Raffs opened on George Street in 2022, moving in to what had been a long-standing stationery shop
From Metal Mania to Lego nights to craft and knitting afternoons, a new arts venue on George Street, opened during post-covid uncertainties, is trying to offer something for everyone, as NADIA AZIZUDDIN explains
Bingo host: actor Adam Pearson
Riff Raffs on Croydon’s George Street is unique. It is a bar/coffee shop/vintage shop/event space/music venue. There can’t be many of those around.
It is a paradigm for how continuous community support and a regular customer base can keep a business going, even in the toughest of times for the hospitality sector. Owned and funded by prople from Croydon, for the people of Croydon, Riff Raffs has become a collective of Croydon’s creatives and alternative crowds.
Riff Raffs is located in where there used to be a low-price, unprepossessing stationery shop. It opened in September 2022, soon after the covid lockdowns and restrictions, so it is a minor miracle that it has survived at all. That it has thrived is due to the hard work and support of a community that felt Croydon deserved better than a Wetherspoons and a Pret a Manger.
Owner Claire Hoggs talked about her doubts about opening Riff Raffs, explaining that, in a time where rents were rising exponentially, and the public was still wary about mixing in crowded environments, it wasn’t a feat she could achieve on her own.
More than a music venue: Riff Raffs is part vintage shop, part coffee loune
Instead, as a part of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s “Pay It Forward London” scheme, Hoggs crowdfunded a chunk of the building work and stock. Bar tabs were offered as rewards in return for donations. This quickly showed that there was a real demand for the kind of space Riff Raffs is.
Today, Riff Raffs appears to be thriving. With weekly (at least) events and a fiercely loyal group of regulars (including movie star and Croydon’s own Adam Pearson), it is exactly what Hoggs hoped it would become: a place that brings people together.
Riff Raffs’ regulars say it is more than a coffee shop or a bar: “It’s a home away from home,” I was told by one couple.
Hoggs recounts that when she was starting out, she was unsure of the kind of events and music they would play and promote. She didn’t want to make it an extension of herself and her own interests, so she opened it up to what she believed Croydon was missing, to “fill in the gaps”. From Jungle to R&B to Metal, they cater to all tastes, so that no matter what you enjoy, you’ll always find a place at one event or another.
No two nights are the same at Riff Raffs.
Riff Raffs’ events include: Pen2padz (essentilly a writing circle for producers, and an opportunity to show off what they’ve been working on), Music Bingo on Thursday nights, hosted by Pearson, Metal Mania (a metal-themed club night), Bring Your Own Album hosted by South London Vinyl Experience (where people are given 20 minutes to play whatever album they’s like), Jungle in the Cronx with Goldfat Records, Riffstory (house DJ sets), and other themed quiz nights also hosted by various other guest hosts.
Aside from club nights, open decks and socials, they also occasionally host gigs.
Billy Moody, the drummer for Croydon-based punk/alt rock trio, Flounder, says that while Riff Raffs’ PA system and equipment make it not fully functional as a music venue, it’s an electrifying and unique place to play.
Open decks: got a favourite record to play? Riff Raffs will let you (for 20 minutes)
There’s a capacity of 125 people in the a long and narrow setting of the former shop, so Riff Raffs is far from a typical gig venue. “Intimate” might be the most apt description: the band plays in the middle of the room, surrounded by a tightly-packed crowd, and with the house lights on.
Moody says that at some points in Flounder’s gig, he could feel the people behind breathing on him.
He said that it felt like the band and the audience were all “one entity”. “It’s how all the best gigs should feel,” he said.
Hoggs wants to stage more live music acts in 2026, aiming at least for weekly acoustic sets until her PA system is up and running.
Riff Raffs is not entirely music-oriented. They have calmer events, like their Lego nights (usually on Wednesdays), or Arts and Crafts afternoons on Saturdays.
Croydon has lost far too many established and loved music venues in recent years, so Riff Raffs offers a multi-purpose space that is at least attempting to fill that gaps left by the closures of The Greyhound or The Black Sheep.
And they are proving that Croydon still has a place where the free-spirited, but lovable, riff raffs can spend their time.
What’s on at Riff Raffs in January 2026:
Tonight: Music Bingo hosted by Adam Pearson
January 15: Metal Mania
January 22: BYO Album with South London Vinyl Experience
January 29: Pen2padz
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