A CANTON restaurant is already planning to expand after a successful first few months of business.
Formerly a coffee shop, Time & Beef on Cowbridge Road East opened in March this year. It serves coffee, gourmet burgers and cocktails.
Steve Chambers, 38, is the owner of Time & Beef. He said: “We want to open another restaurant in Cardiff. We aren’t sure of the location yet but we definitely plan to expand soon.”
During the sporting weekend on November 12-13, many Welsh football and Rugby fans visited the restaurant expecting a bigger venue. “They just turned up without booking,” said Mr Chambers. “We couldn’t seat them all”.
Jake Cornford, part of the small seven person team that runs the restaurant, said: “It was pretty mental. We squeezed in as many people as we could in the afternoon but we turned people away in the evening”.
The plan to expand follows a successful launch for the restaurant which last week was named Best Restaurant in Cardiff at the Cardiff Lifestyle awards. In May, Buzz magazine listed Time and Beef in their top five places to get a cocktail in Cardiff.
Speaking about the Best Restaurant award, Mr Chambers said: “It was a massive surprise and really we were just happy to be nominated. This is more of a lifestyle than a job and getting the recognition makes it all worth it.”
The award was given based on community votes and Eleanor Matthews, a member of the serving team, said: “Being able to chat with customers is the best thing about Time and Beef. This used to be a coffee shop and I’m glad we’ve kept the community atmosphere.”
The restaurant runs a ‘Build your own burger’ menu where it allows customers to select exactly what they want in their burger. This has proven popular with customer Richard Booth saying, “It was very enjoyable and it was good fun thinking of a name for the burger”.
Mr Chambers has worked in the restaurant industry for many years. “We should have more information about the expansion early next year,” he said.