Strand Cafe

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. One morning, a delivery driver noticed something peculiar on the cafe’s porch: an old, dusty hatbox wrapped in brown paper. Curious, he opened it and found inside a stack of vintage postcards from exotic places. The delivery driver took one look at those colorful cards—an image of Moscow State University caught his eye—and decided to keep them as a surprise for his friend who loved travel. From then on, whenever someone ordered a haircut or a coffee at Strand Café, they might find a random postcard tucked into their bill, leading customers to believe that the café itself was somehow connected to far-off lands. Even the neighborhood cat started showing up regularly, hoping for a peek at the latest exotic treasure hidden among the magazines.

2. Every afternoon around three o’clock, a strange humming sound would emanate from Strand Cafe's basement. No one could identify its source, but it always seemed to come from behind the old hairdryer display. One day, an enthusiastic delivery driver asked the owner if he knew what caused the noise. The owner shrugged and said, 'Who knows? Maybe it's just the ghost of our first stylist, humming along with every hairstyle she ever cut.' From then on, whenever anyone heard the humming, they’d smile and say, 'Ah, hello there, Miss Strand!'

3. Every night at exactly midnight, a faint whispering could be heard coming from inside Strand Cafe. At first, only the late-night regulars noticed it—until one curious patron dared to peek through the window. Curious what was causing the noise, they saw nothing but an old radio playing soft jazz in the empty salon. Turned out, every day after closing, the owner would forget to turn off his vintage radio before heading home. The cafe’s late-night reputation became a running joke among locals until someone finally fixed the habit.

4. A little girl visiting her grandmother pointed excitedly one day: ‘Grandma, look! The hairdryer in that café is waving at us!’ Everyone laughed, but soon noticed the dryer seemed to wave back whenever someone entered or left. Soon enough, customers started noticing this quirky phenomenon. One regular, a gruff old delivery driver, finally asked the owner what was going on. With a mischievous smile, the owner admitted it was just an old trick—an LED light and a timer. But everyone had already fallen for the story, laughing every time they saw the 'waving' hairdryer.