THE combination of American-style comfort food and pop culture continues to be a hit with Warrington Guardian readers.

After scooping two of our Food and Drink Awards, Cafe at the End of the Universe has another accolade to add to its growing collection.

The burger bar – with a menu themed around cult TV shows, films and retro games – has been named Warrington’s Best Food To Go Servic at our Customer Service Awards.

This time the award is shared with the team’s other venture, dessert parlour Dark Side of the Spoon.

Former Warrington Collegiate student Andy Kinsella runs the businesses with his wife Victoria and sister Laura.

He said: “We are really excited to win this award. It’s always nice to be recognised especially as this was a combination of a vote and judges’ panel.

"We know we have a great following but it is always amazing to see the lengths our customers will go to support us.

“I like to think what sets us apart is the fact that we have managed to create a community around our food. There are so many of our customers we would consider friends through our shared love of films, TV, games and anything geeky. Obviously our food has to be good as well.

“The fact that we make all our beef, chicken and veggie burgers fresh is really what does it. We also make all our own desserts from scratch at Dark Side too.”

Andy’s favourite part of the job is seeing people’s reaction to the inventively presented food.

He added: “I think people are often surprised mainly because of the funny names but it’s always nice when people tell us it’s the best burger they’ve ever had. Or when people enjoy the cheesecake or pie at Dark Side so much they come back for another slice to take home.

“People also get very excited about our burger of the week. If it is not on social media by Wednesday evening we get lots of messages asking what’s going on.”

Andrew learnt his trade at Stockyard and used to sell his burgers from a van before joining Warrington Market.

He said: “It’s really exciting to see our businesses growing. I started with just me making a few burgers and now we have seven of us across the two businesses.

“We’ve got so much cool new stuff happening over the next few months and beyond.

"We do an amazing quirky afternoon tea with Dark Side – think mini sliders, corn dogs and nachos, scones and cheesecake instead of stuffy sandwiches – we are launching a Man vs Food challenge and our breakfast is becoming increasingly popular.

“We have some great new ideas going forward into the new market and we can’t wait to show Warrington what we’ve planned.”

THE FIVE NOMINEES >

  • Cafe at the End of the Universe/ Dark Side of the Spoon, Warrington Market
  • Danny’s Kitchen, town centre
  • Tasty Bites, Birchwood
  • Longshaw Street Cafe, Bewsey
  • Heath’s 26, Stockton Heath

 HIGHLY COMMENDED > Longshaw Street Cafe

Warrington Guardian:

LOUISE Chester was passionate about food and catering even before she left Penketh High School.

In her last year at school she started washing dishes at Winwick Quay which led to work waitressing and helping to prepare food in the kitchen.

About four years ago she decided to branch out into outside catering, covering the likes of business lunches, birthdays and weddings.

And it went so well that it gave the 36-year-old the confidence to open Longshaw Street Cafe in January.

The hard work is paying off as Louise has many loyal customers and has now been highly commended in the Best Food To Go category of the Warrington Guardian Customer Service Awards.

Louise said: “I’m so chuffed people voted for us. I’ve hit lucky with my staff, they are fab and work very hard to keep the customers happy.

“I have three girls working alongside me and I can honestly say they go above and beyond. I couldn’t have picked a better bunch. They are my dream team.” 

The big favourite at the cafe is the full English breakfast. Louise added: “We use the finest old English sausages from an excellent supplier.

“Quality is definitely what brings people back and it’s really good value for money.

“Our slimmers’ breakfast also goes down a treat.

“Other customer favourites are our homemade chicken dishes and three egg omelette.

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“And I’m excited for winter as we have some great ideas for hot meals coming up to Christmas.

“I’ve always wanted my own cafe as I have learnt so much about the catering industry from all the different places I’ve worked.

“I enjoy the buzz of a busy kitchen and work better under pressure. I wanted a nice community cafe in Bewsey as that’s where I’ve lived for many years now and it’s something the area has lacked.”