Re: Re: Bewleys
@Diaspora wrote:
Burge Eye,
The head of the Belfast tourist authority was quoted on todays lunchtime RTE 1 TV news as saying that Bewleys is an important tourist attraction for the entire Island.
The Crown Bar was shown in all its glory and virtually everyone interviewed drew strong comparison between both The Crown Liquor Salon and Bewleys Oriental Cafe.
What is the source for your definition of nostalgia? It strikes me as being entirely polemical or even made up.
Dublin deserves Bewleys serving the latest food trends and a selection of the pre campbell classic Bewley menus.
Dublin needs Bewleys a lot more than Bewleys needs Dublin, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Coffee division out sourced to Bucharest, with the unique Dublin branding retained.
It might be made up, it might be ripped off, it might be polemic, blah blah blah
ireland.ie doesn’t list Bewleys under cafes
visitiireland.com doesn’t list it
Lonelyplanet.com doesn’t list it
the official northern ireland site doesnt even mention the south!
The Crown bar is an institution, agreed. Whenever I have friends visiting the north I always take them there. Why? Because it’s atmospheric and a throw back to a bygone age. So is Bewleys. Why is the Crown different? Primarily it’s because it is also a service industry with quality and prices equal and above from any or all bars in it’s vicinity. When friends visit Dublin, Bewleys has never been and never will be on my list of “tourist attractions”. Maybe all my friends are alcoholics, I don’t know. I might take my granny though….
My point, however polemic, is simple. How many of the bleeding hearts on this page were through the doors of Bewleys in the last 6 months? If it reopens, how many of the same will have been in it 6 months later? There’s a very dangerous precedent being set here whereby any old kip that becomes financially unviable but has any link to the good old days will be clamouring for political and media support to get it back on its feet. How many other cafe retailers will want to take it over with a bewleys sign over their doors?
We also see on this site the bemoaning of grafton street becoming a Uk high street. That’s progress I’m afraid no matter how galling. The Crown isn’t even in the middle of Belfast as such but people still go to it, search it out. Maybe Bewleys needs to relocate to a cheaper more atmospheric part of Dublin in keeping with its supposed reputation. Use it as a regeneration tool if it’s so great. A Diaspora of latte?
