THERE were cups of tea raised at the Seagate Leisure Centre on Monday as they were crowned the winners of the Irvine Times Cafe of the Year 2021.

And cafe manageress Joanne Finnigan was over the moon for the team at the busy town centre cafe who work hard all week at the Seagate.

“We have a great team here at Seagate and everyone works so hard, this is a brilliant boost for everyone”, said Joanne.

“Here at the Seagate we have a strong sense of community and we want people to be able to feel safe to come in on their own for something to eat as there will always be someone to talk to.

 

Seagate manageress Joanne Finnigan with the trophy.

Seagate manageress Joanne Finnigan with the trophy.

 

“It’s a friendly wee café and from serving breakfasts to our regulars to groups of pals who pop in for a coffee and a cake, to the workers who come in for their soups and burgers at lunchtime and our customers who enjoy our daily specials, we try and have everything covered for the people who pop into Seagate.”

Last month we asked readers to vote for their favourite Irvine cafe and the Times office was filled with bin bags of nominations for the best eating venues in the town.

Joanne admits it was hard when lockdown arrived but as soon as they were able to, the doors were open and the regulars were back at their favourite cafe.

“It has been a difficult time for everyone who is in the hospitality industry and we tried to keep in touch with the customers who we knew were on their own and would be missing meeting people at the Seagate”, explained Joanne.

“We were so pleased to see everyone come back as soon as they could and we have also started some new staff who have thrown themselves into the Seagate way of life, working hard to make sure that we offer excellent customer service and delicious food.”

As soon as the search for Irvine’s top cafe was launched by the Irvine Times, Seagate customers were buying their copy of the newspaper to vote for Seagate.

“There was a real buzz about the place as soon as the awards were announced in the paper,” said Joanne.

“Our customers were running in with their voting slips and before we knew it we were in the running.

“We would like to thank everyone who took time to fill out the voting slip and cast their vote for Seagate, it means so much to everyone who voted for our team.

“It is more than just a job, we are often the only people some customers will see all day.

“A huge thank you from me and all the team at Seagate, we will certainly be holding a wee celebration for everyone who works so hard to make it the best wee cafe in Irvine.”