One of Belfast’s best-loved chefs has said the decision to rebrand one of his popular restaurants was a case of "adapt or die".
Tony O’Neill, managing director at city centre favourites Coppi and Buba, has decided to rebrand one of his businesses from Mediterranean cuisine to a burger restaurant that also offers a takeaway service.
Buba, which has been operating in the Cathedral Quarter since 2008, has been rebranded as Buba Burgers and Bits and opened earlier this month.
Read more: NI hospitality businesses face uncertainty despite busy Christmas
Tony said the decision to change Buba's offering was made due to the challenging times within the hospitality sector.
He told Belfast Live it was a case of adapting to survive amid rising energy costs and the disappearance of the lunchtime trade after the pandemic as many city centre workers are still based at home.
"We have our two restaurants Buba and Coppi based in St Anne's Square. Because Buba is quite small, once it's full there's nowhere really to go. We have a massive outside space but obviously with the Northern Irish weather we don't get to use it all year round," he explained.
"Being a tapas restaurant meant that takeaway didn't really work for us either so we were quite restricted and with rising costs, we just couldn't grow our turnover anymore.
"We've now changed direction with Buba and made it a lot more casual and accessible. We felt we had to really adapt or die. We have a really great team here and wanted to keep them in jobs and drive forward so we sat down and decided to go in the direction of burgers, using our big flame grill barbeque.
"There are a lot of other places doing smashed burgers but I love flame grilled so I really wanted to bring that to the market. We're confident about this move and two weeks in, it seems to be going very well for us."
Tony added: "When we first opened Buba four years ago, we wanted to bring eastern Mediterranean flavours to Belfast and the people who loved it, especially vegan diners, were massive fans but the problem was that there weren't enough of them.
"It was the same demographic of customers coming to both restaurants in the square so we were fighting for the same clientele and Coppi always won because it was more accessible."
Hospitality industry leaders have already warned that businesses in Northern Ireland face uncertainty this year despite a busy festive period.
Both Hospitality Ulster and the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation said spending and footfall returned to pre-pandemic levels during the 2022 Christmas period, the first time the industry was not affected by coronavirus restrictions since before the pandemic.
But some hospitality businesses are concerned about the cost-of-living crisis, in particular the impact rising energy bills and stock bills could have on profits, especially in quieter months at the beginning of this year.
Well-known restaurateur Tony, who is also chair of Hospitality Ulster, says rising energy bills and food costs are a big challenge for the sector, as they can only pass on so much to customers in terms of higher prices.
He added: "Our monthly electricity bills have risen by about 60% and products are also more expensive. Everybody is having to make similar decisions in terms of adapt or die in order to manoeuvre through this. I think our industry is at a transitional period where the old way of working doesn't work anymore so we have to find a new way."
Buba is also located close to the new Ulster University York Street campus, which Tony says is a major selling point,
Over 15,000 students and staff are now using the UU campus, and other student accommodation sites are springing up in the area in response.
"That will hopefully help our lunchtime and takeaway trade during the week. Our burger prices start at £8.50 and it's good quality Hereford Irish beef and all our ingredients are as local as we can get it," he added.
READ NEXT:
NI pubs avoid price rises as Republic hit with more expensive pints
Co Down hotel and restaurant to be operated by new family after 12 years
Five Guys at Victoria Square in Belfast closed due to 'essential maintenance'
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
