Serving up banter with delicious home bakes is the secret to the success of Sally’s in Portlethen.
This according to Sally herself.
The café was known as Lulu’s under previous ownership.
But since 2020, Sally Adam has been running the café with the help of her husband, Mike.
And the Portlethen café is proving a success – so much so that they can’t fit everyone inside.
“We have to turn people away all the time now,” admits Sally.
“You always hope it’s going to be successful, but it’s been better than we expected.
“We’re really lucky because we’ve got amazing customers.”
Sally: ‘That makes us feel really good’
The majority of the customers are returning customers – proof that Sally and her team have perfected their offering.
“80% of our customers are regular customers,” she says.
“So many of our customers have become friends now.”
Sally wanted to create a warm, welcoming space for anyone – and that’s exactly what the team have achieved at Sally’s Cafe.
“We have a huge range of different people that come in,” Sally adds.
“We’ve got young families coming in, guys who work at offices nearby.
“We get a lot of few ladies that come in on their own because they know they’ll get a good chat.
“They know that they’ll always get a bit of banter when they come into the café.
“That makes us feel really good.
“That’s what we want to achieve, that people know they can come and spend time here and feel welcome.
What is on offer at Sally’s Portlethen?
Sally does all the baking in her food trailer. The team also bring the trailer to various local events, offering up their home bakes to a wider customer base.
“Growing up, I was always baking,” she says.
“My granny’s a great baker, my mum was a great baker.
“I think people just love the fact that it’s all homemade.”
At Sally’s you can find well-loved favourites like brownies, millionaire’s slice, scones, brookies, Malteser slice and more.
The paninis are a best seller, and the Tuesday deal which offers soup and pudding for £7 is very popular too.
So what has Sally learned over the last five years?
“I’ve learned the benefits of consistency,” she says.
“People know what they are going to get when they come into the café.”
“I guess I have also learned not to take things to heart,” adds Sally.
“This is a really silly thing, but we got a review that says we’re just an ordinary little café on an industrial estate.
“But that’s what we are. We can’t help where the café is situated.
“People still like coming to visit us.
“That makes me very proud.”
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