The clue is in the name of this very unique café on the beautiful Margate seafront. A favourite among locals and visitors alike, delicious breakfast, brunches, lunches or just a good old cup of tea and a cake can be enjoyed in this one-of-a-kind seaside café. Yes, The Bus Café is precisely what it sounds like – a cosy local eatery set in a vintage 1980 Bristol VR double-decker bus.
Lovingly restored by owners Simon, Jodie, Xander and Lois, the hard-working bus-turned-café has been dubbed Rosie, and, from a 2-day-a-week venture, they now opens her doors to hungry patrons every day of the week – a huge achievement for a business that hasn’t even seen its second birthday. With Margate being a bustling hub for all sorts of small businesses, the café has found a welcoming home on the Kent coast, and its busy galley kitchen is pleasingly busy every day on Rosie’s bottom deck, while customers can take a seat upstairs for a truly memorable brunch experience.
It took Rosie’s four foodie owners one evening and three rounds of drinks to come up with the idea of the Bus Café. Their main vision was to bring tasty, healthy food to the people of Margate, and it seemed Rosie was just the ticket. All that was left was to create a menu that would lure in the crowds, and with foodies from two continents on the team – Brits Simon and Jodie and South Africans Xander and Lois – it wasn’t too hard to create something delicious and irresistible.
Creating an open ticket system
Breakfast comes in the form of Simon and Jodie’s creation of ‘mounds’, potato hash topped with seasonal, fresh and local produce, all available for meat-eaters, veggies, vegans and prepared with gluten and dairy free ingredients. Lunch draws on Xander and Lois’ roots, with freshly prepared South African inspired street food and their famous family “broccoli slaw” recipe. The delicious menu has brought many a hungry visitor to their bus doors, and Square has let them accept every sale and implement an open ticket system that makes their business run more efficiently to get as many customers on board as possible.
Learn more about The Bus Cafe
