What is granola?From an 1863 health spa to our granola bowl with Greek yoghurt at Fiena, King's Cross

Granola is a mix of rolled oats, nuts, seeds and honey or another sweetener, sometimes with puffed rice, baked with oil until it's crisp, toasted and golden, often in little clumps. Dried fruit is often added. It's usually eaten with yoghurt, fresh fruit or milk, and it also turns up as a topping for desserts and ice cream. The difference from muesli is simple: muesli is traditionally neither sweetened nor baked.

• 1863: Dr James Caleb Jackson invented "Granula" at the Jackson Sanitarium in Dansville, New York, a well-known health spa on a hillside above the town. It was made from Graham flour and was more like an oversized version of Grape-Nuts than today's granola.
• Kellogg: John Harvey Kellogg developed a similar cereal, also first called Granula, but changed the name to Granola to avoid legal trouble with Jackson.
• The 1960s revival: fruit and nuts were added and granola became a health food associated with the hippie movement, which is why "granola" and "crunchy-granola" entered everyday slang for people and things linked to that movement.
• Woodstock, 1969: organisers bought oats, wheat germ, dried apricots, currants, almonds and honey to make muesli, and volunteers fed around 130,000 people from paper cups.
• 1972: the first major commercial granola, Heartland Natural Cereal, went on sale, with Quaker, Kellogg's and General Mills soon following.

Background from Wikipedia's granola page.

Granola is light to carry, high in energy and ready to eat, which is why hikers and campers love it. In a bowl with yoghurt and fruit it's a breakfast that fills you up without slowing you down, which is exactly what you want before a long day.

On our breakfast menu, served daily from 08:00 to 14:00, the Granola bowl is granola, Greek yoghurt, chia seeds and seasonal fruit, and it's marked vegetarian. The thick, tangy Greek yoghurt balances the crunch, and the fruit changes with the season.

Want to make more of it? Add a side from the breakfast menu, or share the table with something heartier. Other favourites include the Classic Benedict, the Poached eggs on avocado with dukkah and chilli flakes, and the Tiramisu French toast. See our posts on breakfast until 2pm, vegetarian and vegan breakfasts, eggs Benedict and tiramisu French toast.

Pair it with one of our daily squeezed fresh juices, orange or apple, carrot and ginger, or a good Italian coffee: an espresso, a cappuccino or a flat white. See our guides to fresh juices, Italian coffee and cappuccino, latte and flat white. Meeting someone? See breakfast meetings near King's Cross.

Guests often come for breakfast and stay a while. Martin, visiting London, wrote that the food all be it only breakfast was amazing. (Martin, Google review) Ciara, who came as a walk-in on a busy morning, found that The service was quick and friendly and the atmosphere was cosy and welcoming. (Ciara, Google review) And Tina, who brought the family for brunch, praised the Lovely selection of dishes and brilliant service. (Tina, Google review)

“The coffee is excellent, the staff are friendly and professional”

Loredana, Google review, 2026