{"id":896073,"date":"2026-04-15T16:40:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/896073\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:40:24","slug":"the-industrial-estate-cafe-in-speke-that-people-go-to-seven-days-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/896073\/","title":{"rendered":"The industrial estate cafe in Speke that people go to seven days a week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSome people come in every day, seven days a week”\"liverpoolecho\"<\/p>\n

16:11, 15 Apr 2026Updated 16:58, 15 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/p>\n

Johnny Lela with General Manager Maz at The Warehouse Cafe in Speke(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Tucked away on Speke Hall Road, surrounded by garages and industrial units, you wouldn\u2019t expect to find one of south Liverpool\u2019s busiest caf\u00e9s. But step inside The Warehouse Caf\u00e9, and you\u2019ll be greeted with a warm and welcoming environment full of familiar faces.<\/p>\n

Owner Agron Lela, 41, from Garston<\/a>, known to most as Johnny, decided to open the caf\u00e9 at the start of 2020 in what stood as an empty warehouse attached to a garage after having what he described as a \u201cvision\u201d.<\/p>\n

After taking the leap, he transformed the industrial shell into a bright and relaxed space.<\/p>\n

Johnny told the ECHO: \u201cIt was very industrial, and an awkward place for people to see it going to work, but I had an opportunity and a vision, and I believed in it.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Warehouse Cafe owner Johnny Lela(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just an empty warehouse, which is where it got its name from, but I designed and built it so that people would feel like they were on holiday, and our customers really seem to love that about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, just months after opening, the country went into lockdown due to the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic, and while the hospitality industry was plunged into uncertainty, causing many businesses to shut their doors, Johnny kept going.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe stayed open and served all the police officers, nurses, and people in service who were working throughout Covid. It was very quiet and challenging, and I was worried we would fail, but we managed to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government support schemes played a crucial role. Johnny added: \u201cThey helped us a lot. Without them, we would have gone bust. They kept us alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Warehouse Cafe on Speke Hall Road in Speke(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Five years on, the caf\u00e9 has gone from what Johnny described as \u201cstrength to strength\u201d, employing around 15 members of staff, and continues to support emergency workers with discounts. But a big part of that success, Johnny said, comes down to loyal customers.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cSome people come in every day, seven days a week. We\u2019re always busy, and we don\u2019t advertise, so it\u2019s very much through word of mouth. We don\u2019t take that for granted. We appreciate their support and look after them. It\u2019s give and take.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get all types of people who come in. Some people come in just for a chat. I\u2019ve got a lady who\u2019s 100 years old, she comes in once a week with her carer, and we sit down and talk. I think the key to success is genuinely caring about people.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Mediterranean breakfasts and \u201cgreen eggs\u201d to pizzas and traditional full English plates, the menu is varied, but what keeps customers coming back is consistency and more than just what\u2019s on the plate.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The cafe was once an empty warehouse(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cPeople know they\u2019re going to get the same quality and taste every time. Clean, honest food.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a mixture, the food, the service, the atmosphere. We don\u2019t rush people out. They can relax and stay as long as they want. I want to encourage people to get out of their house and feel like they can come and have a coffee and a chat and tell their story. I think that\u2019s very important.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are becoming isolated and staying at home and not mixing with other people, and it\u2019s very damaging for their health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speke<\/a>\u2019s industrial landscape is evolving, and Johnny has seen the changes first-hand. But despite its unusual setting, the caf\u00e9 has become something of a community hub.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI think the area is changing for the best. There are more businesses coming in, more people around. The area is definitely becoming more popular. We get customers from the airport coming in now, because it\u2019s not far, and breakfast in hotels can be expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI work seven days a week. It\u2019s hard work, but it’s very rewarding when you see people\u2019s reactions and compliments. That\u2019s what makes it worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSome people come in every day, seven days a week” 16:11, 15 Apr 2026Updated 16:58, 15 Apr 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,11653,11159,16,15],"class_list":["post-896073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-liverpool","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-liverpool","tag-premium","tag-speke","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116409718898943576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}