Amelia Hall owner Peter Ringland says the reception has been 'overwhelming and amazing' since opening of new Belfast bar

The owner of Belfast's newest bar Amelia Hall has said the public reception to their newest venture has been overwhelmingly positive.

The venue, named after the nearby Amelia Street, includes a beer hall, cocktail bar, pizzeria, and bakery on the ground floor of local hospitality company The Ringland Group's popular hotel The Flint.

Owner Peter Ringland said that in a time when hospitality still faces the repercussions of the pandemic, his group are continuing to look forward and championing the city with the new business.

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Amelia Hall has opened as part of a £11million redevelopment of The Flint and Peter thinks it is the perfect addition to their growing portfolio across the city which also includes The 1852 hotels and bars Town Square and Southside Social on Botanic.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Peter shared his excitement about the buzz already generating around Amelia Hall and what customers can expect when they visit.

He said: "It has 100 seats has a capacity of 500 - it's first and foremost a bar but it also has a pizzeria within it.

Peter Ringland inside Amelia Hall -Credit:Harry Bateman/ Belfast Live
Peter Ringland inside Amelia Hall -Credit:Harry Bateman/ Belfast Live

"We have brunch in the morning from 8am and lunch, dinner, drinks and then it goes right into the evening. We bought this building a couple of years ago and we've been actually building for 460 days and we were able to open there on Saturday."

Speaking at Amelia Hall on a busy Thursday lunchtime, Peter added that they are hoping to employ even more new staff to keep up with the people flocking to check out the new venue.

"The demand has been unbelievable - we've been pretty much fully booked from 11am every day.

"So it's been a bit overwhelming, but it's been amazing.

"We found that it transitions well from the food trade in the evening and into a busy bar in the late evening and we're open until 3am.

"We also have a beer garden with a outdoor hatch so you can get served pretty much straight from the the street in the pavement licence area," he explained.

Peter continued: "We're obviously in a climate where there's a lot of places closing and a lot of people are saying 'jeez, you're opening a new place in these tough times' but we always like to be moving forward and investing in the city.

Amelia Hall Belfast -Credit:Harry Bateman/ Belfast Live
Amelia Hall Belfast -Credit:Harry Bateman/ Belfast Live

"We're really excited about this particular part of the city and with the new Grand Central Station opening, we think this is going to become a main thoroughfare from the Grand Central Station to the city centre and the City Hall.

"There's such a good stock of amazing, high quality restaurants in the area and that we think there was maybe a bit of a lack of of bars, and we're here to sort of fill that gap."

To find out more about Amelia Hall, see here

VIDEO BY HARRY BATEMAN

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