Sadness as popular Limavady cafe set to close its doors for good

A popular Limavady cafe is set to close its doors for good at the beginning of next month.

Habit Food and Coffee Lounge said the last day they will be serving customers will be Saturday, November 2.

Announcing the news on social media at the weekend, the owners of the Catherine Street eatery, which opened five years ago, cited rising costs, staffing issues and reduced footfall as their reason for closing.

“All good things must come to an end," read the post on Facebook.

“After much consideration we have decided to close our doors at Habit food and coffee lounge. We took on this adventure five years ago with the hope of providing good food, service and beverages to Limavady not knowing what was to lay ahead, it was definitely not the plan to open up during a pandemic, but we made it work.

“Over the last year we, like many other businesses (especially hospitality) have felt the squeeze and pressure of rising costs, staffing issues and reduced footfall. Running a business takes a lot of hard work and is definitely stressful. For us we have decided that the cons of having a business outweigh the pros at this time.

“Our last trading day will be Saturday 2nd November, so please if you have any vouchers or know anyone that has a voucher that needs used up come and enjoy your Habit favourites, as they will be void after this date. (There will be no cash exchanges for unused vouchers).”

The owners went on to thank all their customers and staff, adding: “We want to thank all of our customers over the years and a special thanks to all of our staff (past and present), you have all helped make Habit what it is and we are forever grateful.”

The news was met with shock with many customers taking to social media to express their sadness.

“This is such sad news and I know a very hard decision to make but go knowing your food was so good. It is outrageous the vat levels in Northern Ireland hospitality are so out of kilter with every other country. Good luck getting through these next few weeks and the best for the future,” wrote one customer.

Another person wrote: “Never an easy decision, wish you all the best. Limavady has lost one of the best cafes for choice and food.”