Popular Mansell Street cafe still closed after three months

Bao, an Asian cafe based in Mansell Street, has been closed for at least the past three months, with no indication as to when it may reopen.

Posts on the cafe’s social media, while informing customers of the continued closure on an almost-monthly basis, have not given a reason why.

The cafe still has drinks stocked in its fridge, and a number of tables and chairs are still laid out around the interior.

A staff member who was on-site at the cafe yesterday did want to comment on the situation when spoken to by the Guernsey Press. It did not respond to other approaches.

Businesses operating near the cafe said they had heard that the owners were focusing on setting up another premises along North Esplanade, near the Guernsey Information Centre.

Art For Guernsey founder David Ummels – whose business is situated directly opposite Bao – said he was not sure whether Bao’s owners had an alternative plan for the cafe’s existing premises or whether it planned to rent them out.

‘Before today I hadn’t seen anyone around for a few weeks,’ he said.

Mill Street Cafe director David Savident said Bao was a ‘good, popular business', and its closure had made the area feel emptier.

‘We like the area to be vibrant and Bao definitely added to that,’ he said. ‘I heard they were going to somewhere near Folies nightclub but I don’t know whether that’s true.’

The cafe has been based in Mansell Street for at least six years and has only good reviews on Tripadvisor.

Fans of the cafe have been posting on the cafe’s Facebook page, asking for updates for when it could reopen. But no public responses have been given.