When it opened its doors on Old Market Place, owner Raj Ruia wanted to bring café culture to the town and share a little of the Parisian way of life he had experienced. Fast forward to September 2024 and the popular town centre venue has just been named this year’s Best Café or Coffee Shop in Warrington. In April, we launched our Best of 2024 competition and we’ve given out 21 awards.
Best for Hair - Kate Lucy Hair Studio Best for Pies - Tomlins Bakehouse Best for Nails - By Maisie Beck Best for Roast Dinner - The Blue Bell Best for Cocktails - Dead Eyes Best for Breakfast – CJ’s Coffee House Best for Fish and Chips - Plaice Station Best Beer Garden - The Ferry Tavern Best for Fitness – Tommy O’Connor Best for Tattoos – Sam Small Ink Best Independent Shop or Business – Manic Minors Toystore Best for Dessert – White Lace Bakery Best for Kids – Velocity Dance Best for Pets – Victoria Park Vets Best for Beauty – LUXE Salon & Training Best for Pizza – San Lorenzo Best for Afternoon Tea – Room Forty Best for Burgers – Café at the End of the Universe Best Gym – Ryfields Gym Best for Curry – The Black Gold Voting for Warrington’s Best Pub or Bar is currently taking place and we’re also looking for nominations in our final search - Best Restaurant. Vote for Warrington’s Best Pub or Bar 2024 Nominate your favourite for Warrington’s Best Restaurant 2024 Twelve top cafés and coffee shops made Warrington’s shortlist in the latest Best of 2024 category and Rhode Island came out on top. Raj Ruia founded Rhode Island in 2002 in Altrincham before coming to Warrington.
Rhode Island opened its first coffee shop in 2002 It was the first coffee shop to pioneer barista made coffee in the town. They wanted “to bring café culture to the town”. There are now eight Rhode Island branches around the north west in Altrincham, Blackburn, Burnley and Crewe as well as Oldham, Stockport and Chorley.
Ravi Ruia, Raj’s son, has been the managing director of Rhode Island since earlier this year and Nicola Blackburn is the store manager with Ange English having been with the company since 2018 and Sandra Walker since 2016. Ravi, who is 30, said: “Rhode Island Coffee provides hand crafted gourmet coffee and indulgent treats and locally sourced food to our loyal customer base. “We are praised for our friendly service and warmth.
“We have a unique blend of coffee and our coffee is made using a top of the range La Marzocco machine. “We want to be a community hub and offer more than just coffee whether that is hosting a local book club or a family day out. “Our site in Warrington was the second in Rhode Island’s Journey after Altrincham and the first to bring barista made drinks to the area.
“My father who was inspired by his time living in Paris and wanted to bring a taste of this to the north west.” The Rhode Island team - (from left) Angela English, Jake Tickle, Ravi Ruia, Nicola Blackburn and Moss Osuli Ravi has spent the past six years working in Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and Denmark in senior positions within the food delivery sector. Nicola has spent more than 20 years in the service industry, most recently with a leading national coffee chain and brings a wealth of experience to her new role at Rhode Island.
Ravi said: ‘’We love having the ability to make someone’s day better. “It is a tough time for everyone now and we want people to forget about whatever struggles they may have when they walk through our doors.’ ‘’We have world class coffee with highly skilled baristas.
“We have been doing this for more than 20 years, but we still look to innovate where we can. “Rhode Island has been praised for having a great range of delicious high-quality cakes and tray bakes. “We pride ourselves on the level of service and warmth which exudes from the Warrington store.
“Nikki and her team are a huge part of the community and we have even hosted several events in our Warrington branch.’’ Rhode Island provides hand crafted gourmet coffee and indulgent treats What do customers think of Rhode Island? Why did they want the venue to win our latest Best of 2024 title? The word is that this place serves “the best coffee in Warrington” and it’s become a firm favourite in the town centre. Nicola said: “I love meeting and interacting with new people and loyal customers every day.
“I love being a part of people’s daily routines. “Having worked for a large national coffee chain for more than nine years, I have enjoyed the move to an independent chain, where we focus on quality of product and the customer tirelessly.” The Rhode Island team was delighted to have made the shortlist for Warrington’s Best Café or Coffee Shop 2024.
Rhode Island was the first coffee shop to pioneer barista made coffee in the town. Nicola said: “We are so thankful to all our customers who support us each day. “We were thrilled to have won the award against such esteemed competition and we are extremely grateful to everyone who voted for us.
’’ Ravi said: “As a thank you to everyone who voted for us and to all our customers who have supported us every day over the past 22 years, we will run a special promotion this weekend. “On Saturday and Sunday all regular hot drinks will be priced at £2. “We are looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend!”.
