The Savoury Café is a Darlington institution, having fed the people of the town with its trademark ‘savoury’ since 1934.
Having been based at Darlington Indoor Market since at least 1934, the café is famous in the town and beyond for its signature food.
The Northern Echo headed to The Savoury Café to get a good sense of how the business is doing, the loyal customer base, and of course, how popular the famous ‘Darlo savoury’ really is.
I popped along to the café at 10am on Wednesday, March 8 and, although the café tends to be quieter mid-week, there were plenty of people enjoying full English breakfasts.
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Having spent five years serving bacon buns and cups of tea to the people of Darlington in a previous job, this environment wasn’t completely foreign to me.
Due to sod’s law, however, when I turned up, there wasn’t much work for me to do as the staff had everything in hand.
I did, however, keep warm by making myself useful doing some washing up.
It was freezing outside so I wasn’t surprised people were congregating in the café and warming up with a hot cup of coffee.
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Saturdays are the busiest days at the café, with people queueing up for a seat.
It was freezing outside so I wasn’t surprised people were congregating in the café and warming up with a hot cup of coffee.
Sam Blackham, co-owner of The Savoury Café, said: “We were worried at first that when we moved, the customers wouldn’t follow but so many of them have and we’ve had new customers find us as well.
“I do miss the market in a way, but this is just a much better space, we’ve got more room, better heating, and its cheaper for us here.
“The most popular things on the menu is probably the breakfasts, but we also sell a lot of shepherd’s pie and people do still love a savoury.
“People buy from people and they get used to you (the staff).”
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Alex Blackham, co-owner, said: “We love it here. W did have our concerns but we know what the people of Darlington want. It’s all well and good having avocado and poached eggs but there’s already places doing that.
“Why fix what’s not broken? You only have to see the queues in here to know what Darlington people want.”
Josie Marets, who has worked at the Savoury Café since 1995 said: “I love it here. The customers are lovely, and we can all have a laugh, that’s why I’m still here after all these years!”
The café relocated to the Cornmill Centre in 2020 after not seeing a way forward at the market given the redevelopment of the market.
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Market Asset Management, which runs Market Asset Management Darlington took over the running of the market in 2017.
The café is traditional, and some may say ‘old fashioned’, but nevertheless, it continues to be extremely popular for those wanting some hearty food that won’t break the bank.
Despite it’s namesake, the savoury is actually no longer the most popular item on the menu, although it remains in the top-five most asked for lunches.
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