Perhaps it's the coffee, or maybe it's the vegetable cawl.
Whatever it is, Gershwins Coffee House and Bistro is obviously doing something right.
The family-run business has hosted thousands of customers over the years including Hollywood actors and sporting world champions - and had its share of romance. Its location in the city centre makes the business easy to find- but its a certain something that keeps them coming back.
The property in Nelson Street was, sometime in the mid 19th century, a tea merchants, and later became a bakery. But since the late eighties it's been Gershwins, after being taken over by Phillipa Hawkins, a woman 'with a passion for food'. For around twenty years she built the business up, until son Jonathan came to take it over - almost by default.
"I had studied economics at university, and although I would help out on weekends, when I graduated I did a spot of teaching - I was a lecturer in business studies at Swansea College," said Jonathan
"But I gradually became more and more involved in the business, until my mother was looking to retire, and I kind of got sucked into it. Five years before, I would have said there was no way I would have gone into it, but I became more and more involved and did an about turn.
“My mother loved to cook. She took over the café in the eighties. She got the keys and introduced lots of ‘new’ types of food to Swansea. Back then, the concept of jacket potatoes with fillings was totally unusual, but they’re now a firm favourite."
He added: “Her cappuccinos were completely different to traditional cappuccinos but it was new and exciting in the 80s. Alongside Kardomah, we were one of the original Swansea coffee houses." You can read the story of the Kardomah Cafe here.
“We’ve adapted our menu over the years, but there’s one thing we can never remove - my mother’s vegetable cawl. It’s been a firm favourite for 33 years, it’s just as iconic as the place itself".
The business is just a stone's throw from the Grand Theatre, which means it's a short walk for visiting performers.
“We’ve welcomed a fair share of them. Catherine Zeta Jones, Paul O'Grady, Dirty Den from Eastenders, Melinda Messenger, Windsor Davies and Max Boyce have all been in here."
He added: "I remember one day I was doing something with stock when I noticed actor Ray Meagher, who plays Alf in Australian soap Home and Away, at one of the tables. I had to do a double take. I've even found myself playing a game of cards here with All Blacks players in 2015. Alun Wyn Jones has been in too.
“There’s something about this place that keeps pulling people back. It feels like home to so many and we’ve had regulars that have visited us every day for 30 years"
As well as the famous faces, there's been a fair share of love in the air too.
"We've had multiple proposals, and our head chef Mike even met his partner here.
"He lives in Aberdare and she lived only a few miles away, but they didn't know each other until she was in town shopping and she came in. It was one of those organic things, they got on well, started dating and ended up getting engaged, and have now had a young baby."
He said that on one occasion the whole place went quiet when a customer went down on one knee, but fortunately she said yes.
"We had champagne on ice ready, but it would have been horrendous if she had said no.
"We had staff from M&S have a Christmas party here one year - that turned into a hell of a night. We had women in their fifties and sixties swinging from the beams.
"One elderly customer used to come dressed to the nines in her hat and finest outfits, for her weekend glasses of sherry. We've had some right characters over the years - but I'm not sure I could tell all the stories I've seen!
“There’s something about cafés like this that stand the test of time. It’s a place filled with nostalgia, familiarity and our customers are like family".
