Here’s everything that’s happened with Leaf and Bean since an Edi student was ‘kicked out’

Tomris says she’s now banned from the cafe’s two locations


Last week, an Edinburgh student said on TikTok that she’d been kicked out and banned from Marchmont’s Leaf and Bean cafe. Her videos have had hundreds of thousands of views, and you might have seen it on your FYP.

But what exactly happened at Leaf and Bean with the student, and how have the cafe responded? Here’s the rundown of everything we know so far:

Tomris, a University of Edinburgh student claims she was “kicked out” of the Leaf and Bean cafe in Marchmont after being accused by the owners of studying at one of their tables for just over an hour and a half (from 11:45am-1:26pm) without she and her friend each buying their own drink.

Tomris posted about the experience on her TikTok, labelling the Leaf and Bean as the “worst cafe in Edinburgh”, and claims that they were “hounded” to purchase “multiple drinks” when the coffee shop was empty, before getting “kicked out”.

@diotimas.ladder worst cafe in #edinburgh ♬ original sound – TOM

In a since-deleted response, the Leaf and Bean posted on their Facebook page naming Tomris personally and saying that she had an “embarrassing entitlement”, and was “fabricating the truth” about the cafe being empty, as she had said in her first video.

Via Facebook

The statement also directed a paragraph at her, saying: “As you can probably guess you are not welcome to sit in our establishment.. unless you would like to apologise, then we would just move on and welcome you back.”

Tomris posted another TikTok about the situation. Her original TikTok video has amassed over 190k views, with the follow-up video having almost 850k views.

In the second video, Tomris says she had been banned from the Leaf and Bean. She said she and her friend had each bought their own drinks, showing screenshots of two different mobile banking transactions for Leaf and Bean, each for £3.30. One is dated 11th May and one is dated 10th May.

@diotimas.ladder HOW I GOT BANNED FROM THE WORST CAFE IN #edinburgh ♬ original sound – TOM

She says she “understands when coffee shops don’t want students taking up tables for three, four hours” but that after only an hour and a half they were “kicked out” due to the “lunch rush”.

“We have absolutely no problem with being asked to buy more drinks in a cafe, but it was how we were asked that day that means we won’t buy anything from you again”, she said.

In their now-deleted Facebook post Leaf and Bean claimed that when Tomris was offered anything else by the staff she “shooed them away”.

It said: “This is a business, it is not a library”. It then went on to suggest that Tomris may be “struggling financially” and that as a gesture of goodwill they would put her name in the window “to be kind”. At the Leaf and Bean cafe, if your name is put in the window then you can claim a free drink.

It also showed an image, saying: “Here is the picture of the front […] As you can see every table had someone sitting at it […] the only spaces free were the bench seats.”

Following their Facebook statement, Tomris released a follow-up TikTok, explaining the situation in more detail. She claims that by naming and releasing CCTV footage of her, the cafe allegedly was in breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 Part 6 sections 170 and 171.

The Edinburgh Tab contacted Tomris, who said: “We went to the coffee shop at 11:45 to try to stay for just over two hours before a flat viewing at 2:30. We sat down and worked until 1:26 when the proprietress ordered us to leave, despite our table being full with laptops and a drink each. Although we were right in the middle of working, the proprietress got us to leave, in the words of the Facebook post: ‘Within one minute’. This might be indicative of the way in which she ushered us out.

“In her Facebook post, she accused us of ‘fabricating the truth’ and then went on to say we ‘shared a drink’ when we each bought our own, with proof from our bank statements.

“And yes, I have actually been banned from both Marchmont and Morningside Leaf and Bean locations.

“None of this, however, would have elicited any response, and we were planning on going to make amends, were it not for the Leaf & Bean breaking the law and violating the Data Protection Act. They posted a screenshot of their CCTV footage, with a big, red, professional arrow pointing to our table and named me in the text below. Although posting the security footage itself is not illegal, naming and identifying me in the comments was violating the law, and encouraged the page’s followers to target me, with a top commenter telling others to go ‘show this girl some ‘love.’’

“I have certainly learned a great deal from this experience. And so for any future study trips to cafes, I have purchased a false moustache, to conceal my identity from any more nefarious baristas.”

The Leaf and Bean Instagram account seems to have disabled their comments and did not respond to The Edinburgh Tab’s requests for comment.

The public have begun leaving one-star Google reviews for Leaf and Bean, with negative comments. However, supporters of the local spot have also defended the café, with one saying: “This has been my choice cafe to study in since moving to Marchmont”, and another saying: “Let’s not slander this small business because of an entitled student”.

Leaf and Bean has been contacted for comment

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