Café Lounge Opens Third Site on Tunbridge Wells' Mount Pleasant Road

Café Lounge has arrived in Tunbridge Wells, opening its third site at 94 Mount Pleasant Road - a short walk from the Wetherspoon's on the same stretch of road. The brunch and breakfast chain started life in Meopham before expanding to Rochester, and is currently taking walk-ins only while it settles in, with table reservations promised "soon".

Behind the opening sits a Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Licensing Sub-Committee hearing on 22 July 2026, where members granted Café Lounge a premises licence after a neighbour raised noise concerns. The business, represented by Enis and Savash Sasmaz, told the committee it is family-run and wanted to "foster positive relationships with neighbours" - offering acoustic soundproofing works, a cut to proposed alcohol-sales hours (to 8.30pm) and an earlier closing time (9pm, down from what was originally applied for) as conditions of the licence. No objectors attended the hearing itself.

The committee heard that alcohol is a minor part of the business - sales data from the applicant's busiest existing site showed roughly 500 alcoholic drinks sold a month, around 16-18 a day, intended to complement meals rather than drive a drinking venue. Day to day, all three Café Lounge sites normally operate 8am-5pm; the later licensed hours are there for occasional private events, product launches or photography sessions rather than routine evening trade. Members noted the neighbouring Wetherspoon's already operates under a far broader licence with an outdoor smoking area, and concluded Café Lounge's modest, food-led operation was unlikely to add meaningfully to noise or nuisance in the area.

Source: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council