Neighbourhood Café reopens in new location following a frantic five-week fitout

Belfast’s Neighbourhood Café has reopened in a new location following the devastating fire at its old premises in Cathedral Buildings earlier this year.

The new Neighbourhood Café, located on Commercial Court in the Cathedral Quarter, is now open seven days a week following a five-week fitout at its new home.

Neighbourhood Café was previously located in Cathedral Buildings before the premises was destroyed by a fire in October. The fire destroyed everything in the café and its owners, Ryan Crown and Oisín McEvoy, had to start from scratch when they made the decision to reopen in a new location.

Following a call from leading chef Niall McKenna, Ryan and Oisín decided to take the lease of the former home of Hadskis and quickly started work on an ambitious plan to open the new and improved Neighbourhood Café before Christmas.

Just five weeks after taking Niall’s call, Ryan and Oisín opened their new café with the help of several local suppliers. Crown Creative worked on the design and interiors, while Abbey Furniture & Upholstery in Carrickfergus managed the project fitout. Galgorm Group created and managed the fitout of the kitchen at the new premises.

The move has also helped Neighbourhood Café to grow its team. The team from the previous premises was retained, and Ryan and Oisín have added an additional six staff following the move to the larger premises.

Speaking after opening the new-look Neighbourhood Café, Ryan Crown, said: “Our café was part of the Cathedral Buildings fire in October, and it was completely destroyed with nothing salvageable. Oisín and I had to start again from scratch. We had an amazing 10 months in our original location and to see it all be destroyed in front of us so quickly was devastating.

“Fast forward a few weeks and after taking a call from Niall McKenna, we took over the lease at Hadskis on Commercial Court, determined to get open before Christmas. We wanted to retain our amazing team and build an even better version of Neighbourhood and managed a very ambitious five-week timeline from starting the project to opening our doors last week.”

Thanking all the local businesses and looking forward to welcoming new and old customers, Oisín McEvoy added: “We’re now open seven days a week at our new location and open late on Wednesday and Thursday on the run up to Christmas. Our menu has a focus on local suppliers and our coffee is from Calendar Coffee in Galway - in our opinion the best coffee on the island of Ireland. We’re over the moon to be open again and welcoming customers to our new and improved café.”

Neighbourhood Café will also be open late night openings on Wednesday and Thursday on the run up to Christmas. The café continues to serve speciality coffee supplied by Galway Roasters, Calander Coffee. The elevated brunch offering also remains with a focus on local suppliers.