This In Your Pocket Guide is available as



Bookmark and Share

Belfast | Where to Eat | Coffee & Snacks

Until recently, Belfast's buoyant independent coffee scene has benefitted from the lack of multi-nationals. However, the cream rises to the top and, with two branches in pedestrian-heavy thoroughfares, this locally-owned chain continues to attract its share of the lucrative mocha market. All the food is freshly prepared on site, with paninis, bagels, salads and croissants setting the continental scene along with the extensive hot and iced coffee selection. Italian sweets, dreamy milkshakes and comfy seats making Arizona a pleasurable pit stop. [...]



Add your comment

19-21 Chichester St

tel. (+44) (0)28 9023 0600

Open 08:00 - 17:30,
Sat 09:00 - 17:30,
Sun Closed.
Also at 406 Lisburn Rd, tel. (+44) (0)28 9066 2223.
BAGEL:bagel
So good they named it twice: this cute wee Cathedral Quarter café specialises in, you've guessed it, bagels. Tuck into their bagel of the day or choose from a huge range of inspired fillings, from salad to roast beef. These guys even stock other city cafés with their New York-style snacks [...]



Add your comment

60 Donegall St.

tel. (+44) (0)28 9024 2545

Open 08:00 - 15:30,
Sat 10:00 - 15:30,
Sun Closed.
Grab a dusty novel and join the intelligentsia plotting the next socialist revolution at the back of this shabby-chic second-hand bookshop. No table or chair is alike, but that just adds to its no-frills charm. Hot drinks, filled pitta pockets and home-made traybakes go down a storm [...]



Add your comment

47 University Rd

tel. (+44) (0)28 9032 8269

Open 10:00 - 17:30,
Sun Closed.
This small, yet perfectly formed, café with wooden tables and chairs offers commuters and city workers a decent selection of snacks and coffees. Handy for a quick cuppa and panini before catching the bus to Botanic or the Lisburn Road. [...]



Add your comment

9 Donegall Square East

tel. (+44) (0)28 9031 9247

Open 07:30 - 17:30,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.
Small coffee, soup and sandwich stop geared towards city centre shoppers and lunching office slaves. Filled ciabatta and pitta breads lend an international air and the flavoursome meatballs continue Xpresso's Italian theme. [...]



Add your comment

8 Brunswick St.

Open 07:30 - 16:00,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.
Blue and black signs for this cafe chain are springing up all over town, but our favourite location is this two-storey space on Fountain Street. Leather sofas, lucious lattes and the usual assortment of paninis, sandwiches and sweets serve a busy lunchtime clientelle. If it's warm and dry, head upstairs and outside for a rooftop Fountain Centre perch. You'd almost think you were somewhere... [...]



Add your comment

Unit A1, Fountain Centre, College St

tel. (+44) (0)28 9024 8282

Open 07:00 - 19:00,
Sat 08:00 - 19:00,
Sun 09:00 - 18:00.
Also at (C-2) House of Fraser in Victoria Square and (C-2) 48-50 Ann St
One enterprising local spent seven years in California before returning home to set up this US-style coffee house. The frothy cappuccinos keep city folk sane and tourists refreshed, and the summer menu features a choice of ten salads and exotic Thai and Tex Mex wraps. The table service adds a welco [...]



Add your comment

43 Arthur St

tel. (+44) (0)28 9043 4340

Open 07:00-19:00,
Thu 07:00-21:00,
Sat 09:00-18:30,
Sun Closed.
Chocolate Room
Speciality chocs, gift packages and a cute hot chocolate bar make this dinky South Belfast spot - on the swanky Lisburn Road - a chocoholic's heaven. Go on, spoil yourself after all that shopping. [...]



Add your comment

336 Lisburn Rd

tel. (+44) (0)28 9066 2110

Open 09:30 - 17:00,
Sun Closed.

Clements
One of the city's best coffee chains, locally-owned Clements boasts several locations across the city and a rather hip, young clientele, epseically in its Botanic Ave location. A range of top-notch coffees are prepared by award-winning baristas and the yummy sweets and scones make divine accom [...]



Add your comment

66 Botanic Ave

tel. (+44) (0)28 9033 1827

Open 07:30 - 23:00,
Sat 08:00 - 23:00,
Sun 10:00 - 23:00.
Also at (C-2), 4 Donegall Sq. West; (C-2), Castle St; 342 Lisburn Rd; (C-1), 37 Rosemary St; (C-1), 131 Royal Ave.
Another chain, another delicious coffee. These conveniently located on-the-go snack stops are part of a Canadian-born franchise serving up sandwiches, desserts and a great selection of custom-roasted espressos. Look out for changing specials such as the beyond-indulgent honeycomb and marshmallow hot chocolates. The Internet access makes it ideal for home-sick travellers. [...]



Add your comment

Great Northern Mall

tel. (+44) (0)28 9024 1547

Open 07:00 - 20:00,
Sun 10:00 - 16:00.
Also at (B-2), 19 Wellington Place
You've got to love the name of this tiny, take-out café where marinated chicken sandwiches, salad boxes and combo melts go down rather nicely with the Fairtrade teas and coffees. A handy snack stop if you're antique shopping along Donegall Pass or en route to Botanic Gardens. [...]



Add your comment

39 Donegall Pass

tel. (+44) (0)28 9031 3555

Open 07:30 - 15:00,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.
Freshly made scones in the morning set local office workers and shoppers up for the day at this intimate cafe tucked off Bedford St, behind the City Hall. The hot lunches menu features hearty options such as yummy stews and soups along with lighter bites such as sandwiches and panini [...]



Add your comment

1 James St South

tel. (+44) (0)28 9031 9900

Open 07:00 - 17:00,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.

Northern Culture
A table and bookshelf crammed with tourist info - particularly of the local area and Ulster Scots heritage - provide plenty of reading material for all you history-hungry visitors. And the walls abound with framed poems, prose and pics depicting Belfast and NI past and present. Digest the lot at the comfy sofa area as you tuck into a gourmet sandwich, homemade soup or stew followed by tea, coffee and trad traybakes (flattish baking tray-made cakes, cut into squares, in case ya don't know)... ideal sustenance for your onward Shankill sojourn. Prints and souvenirs are also available to buy.
[...]



Add your comment

195 Shankill Rd

tel. (+44) (0)28 9033 2806

Open 10:00 - 19:00
Original Roast Coffee Company
This ever-popular Lisburn Road cafe is reknowned for its super-sweet New York desserts and fantastic coffees served up by barista-trained staff. Sandwiches, salads and other healthy options complete the great array of eats and there's a suitably retro feel with greens, oranges and browns [...]



Add your comment

407 Lisburn Rd

tel. (+44) (0)28 9066 6038

Open 07:30 - 23:30,
Sat 08:30 - 23:30,
Sun 08:30 - 23:30.
This little place sent a fruity frisson across Belfast in the early Noughties when it opened as the city's very first juice bar. Sink your straw into a colourful array of cocktails from the Chilli Pop (pear, chilli and apple) to the Pulpitation (orange, grapefruit and lime). Smoothies, bagels, [...]



Add your comment

52 Howard St.

tel. (+44) (0)28 9032 6650

Open 07:00 - 16:30,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.
Upstairs in this bespoke gentleman's shirtmakers is a cute little coffee shop serving a small yet salient selection of hot brews and sweet snacks. A great place to flick through FHM or Harpers & Queens before continuing your shopping onslaught. [...]



Add your comment

Bedford House, Bedford St

tel. (+44) (0)28 9023 0388

Open 07:30 - 17:30,
Sat 10:00 - 17:30,
Sun Closed.
Rub shoulders with the working crowd in this bright, bustling daytime diner with the pun-tastic title. Fill your boots (not literally, that would be hideous) with a steaming Irish Stew and wheaten bread or tackle a mega panini - we're not talking the usual flat fare here. The tasty soups and s [...]



Add your comment

19 Linenhall St

tel. (+44) (0)28 9031 9631

Open 07:00 - 17:00,
Sat 09:00 - 17:00,
Sun Closed.
The global coffee giant took a while to hit Belfast, but since it arrived it's been a big hit.  From the size of the queues, you'd think the locals had never seen a café latte before. It may be the McDonalds for the ground bean generation, but at least you're assu [...]



Add your comment

2 Castle Lane

Open 07:00 - 19:00,
Thu 07:00 - 21:00,
Sat 08:00 - 18:30.
Also at (C-1), CastleCourt, (C-4), 90 Botanic Ave, (C-2) Victoria Square and (B-4) Lisburn Road.
Streat
Part of a locally-owned chain serving coffees, sandwiches, ice cream and a particularly pleasing champ menu. And if you're not sure what that's all about, read our guide to NI's unmissable Local food. There are branches across the city...look out for the distinct orange and blue branding and you're there. [...]



Add your comment

Bank of Ireland building, High St

tel. (+44) (0)28 9043 3379

Open 08:30 - 16:30,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.
World Peace Cafe
A small space with ambitious ethics, this friendly wee vegetarian spot within the Potala Buddhist Centre sells teas, coffees, sandwiches, paninis and a selection of home-made cakes. All profits go to the International World Peace Temples project - a registered charity promoting that most elusi [...]



Add your comment

40d Donegall Pass

tel. (+44) (0)28 9023 8090

Open 10:30 - 14:30,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.
This bijou food kiosk offers a bit more than the average city centre sandwich bar. Burgers, hot dogs, homemade soup, toasties and daily specials sit alongside salads, snacks and those all-important sandwiches. There's a couple of stools and tables on which to perch as you eat before you hit the sho [...]



Add your comment

Spires Mall, Upper Queen St. entrance

tel. (+44) (0)28 9031 2881

Open 08:30 - 14:30,
Sat Closed,
Sun Closed.