City Centre, Carlisle

Bordo Lounge

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All-day cafe bar on English Street, part of the Loungers group, in the old Topshop. Dog friendly.

Part of Loungers

Today: See opening hours
Address: 18-24 English Street, Carlisle CA3 8HX
Phone: 01228 210948

Directions Ring them Their website

History

Opened 13 October 2023

Opened: 13 October 2023
Site of: The former Topshop unit
Operator: Loungers plc

Bordo is in the old Topshop, not in an old pub. The glass-fronted unit at 18-24 English Street, overlooking the Market Cross, was one of the most prominent empty lots in the city centre, and civic leaders welcomed Loungers taking it for that reason. The company announced twenty-five jobs and a November opening; the doors actually opened on 13 October 2023.

It was one of four the company took on at once, the others being a former Argos in Hexham and a closed Barclays in Nantwich, which tells you what Loungers do: they take the big dead retail units nobody else wants and turn them into all-day cafe bars in the house style. Heavily patterned wallpaper, tiling, stripped wooden floors, oversized vintage sofas and statement lighting; breakfast to late evening, vegan and gluten-free menus, board games, children's toys, treats for the dog.

The two have been muddled, so it is worth saying plainly: this building was never a pub. The Angel Inn stood next door at 14-16, one of the oldest houses in the city, but the State Management Scheme closed it as a pub in 1916 and the building came down in the 1970s. Its sign is still on the one that replaced it.