New café opens in Littlehampton just in time for summer

Tides Café in Pier Road, which used to be Raj Doot, opened its doors and gave a warm welcome to the public on Saturday, May 28.

Vicky Palmer, 38, and her mother, Sue Parker, started the café as a joint venture, having spoken about doing it for years.

Vicky said: “Myself and my mum strongly believe there is a gap along the river, there hasn’t ever been just a café. It’s just chip shops, restaurants, ice cream parlours, no where to go for a nice hot chocolate in the winter.

"My mum and I have spoken about doing this for years. We used to look online at places that were available and one day this just came up, and we booked to come and see it. It was a slow process but everything just sort of fell into place as it was meant to and when the time was right.

"Our opening day was very busy when we opened the doors, we had a large queue out the front before we opened. We had balloons outside and got a big cheer when we opened.”

Alex Minett, 38, is Tides’ manager. She said the opening day was full of very positive feedback. She added: “We got lots of great comments about our decor, saying how nice and modern it looks. We also got good feedback on our menu with people commenting on what great variety we have.”

The new two-floored café is currently open seven-days-a-week, from 9.30am until 7pm, offering breakfast, lunch, main meals, light bites, cakes and refreshments including smoothies and slushies.

The owners have plans to get an alcohol licence before the summer, so they can use the upstairs space as somewhere for people to hire out for parties, hen-dos, baby showers and other events.

Alex added that once the café hopefully gets its alcohol licence, the staff would like to start providing bar snacks, evening snacks and changing it to a more of a bar-feel in the evening.

Vicky said she thinks their café is the new place to be. She added: “We believe we have brought something fresh and new to the area and we can provide a nice vibe and a nice atmosphere for people to enjoy.

"We are really proud of what we have created here and I just hope others feel the same way.”

Tides Café has been told by the council that they are exempt from providing disabled access into the café as any ramps used would be too far out into the pavement and road, however staff have made it clear that they would be more than willing to help anyone into their restaurant if they are able to use stairs and apologise to the community for this.

Vicky and Sue are fans of keeping Pier Road pedestrianised so that they can have outdoor seating and welcome people to enjoy the food and drinks it has to offer.

To keep up to date with Tides Café, you can follow it on Facebook or Instagram @tides.cafe.