New owners of The Riverside Cafe in Berwick look ahead and pay tribute to the previous owner

The Riverside Cafe has new owners and a new look and after being closed for a few weeks for the transition period, it re-opened on Monday.

Steven and Louise Wood have taken on the business. They have run the well-known Woody’s Taxis for 17 years and alongside this they have their Berwick-Upon-Tweed Garage Tyre and Service Centre, which also continues to grow.

Speaking yesterday (Tuesday), Mr Wood said: “The first day of opening was absolutely rammed and we’re very grateful for all the positive comments that we’ve received.

“We’re looking to introduce a specific ‘shakes, cakes and traybakes’ offering in the next couple of weeks and also at some point to start themed events and live music.”

It will be open seven days a week from 9am to 3pm (last orders 2.30pm) and takeaways will be available as normal. The normal menu will run on Sundays for the next few weeks and from February 4, the food available on Sundays will be breakfasts and Sunday lunches.

In a recent Facebook post, the couple said: “We are a very hard working family and we have five gorgeous children who always keep us on our toes. So obviously we can’t run all these businesses ourselves.

“This is why we rely on our hard-working teams in each business to use their expertise, experience and knowledge to make sure things run smoothly. This is why we almost headhunt our staff and the Riverside will be no different.

“Our main aim now is to keep this cafe as good as it has been for the last eight years when it was run by Sharon (Morrison, who previously ran the cafe).

“We’d like to thank Sharon and Kevin for giving us this amazing opportunity to buy such a busy ‘ready to go to work’ business and we wish them all the best for whatever the future holds for them.

“With a team of over a dozen very experienced staff – some faces from before and some new faces – we are confident that we can keep up this first class service and provide good home cooked food at affordable prices.”

For more information, go to The Riverside Cafe Facebook page.