Coffee shop takes second Best of 2024 award and celebrates the double!

After taking home St Helens’ Best for Afternoon Tea and Best Café or Coffee Shop in 2023, the popular place has repeated their feat and topped the tables for the same two awards in 2024.

Congratulations!

In April, we launched our Best of 2024 competition and we’ve given out 16 awards.

• Best for Hair - At Gems
• Best for Pies – Burchall’s
• Best for Nails - Nails by Mandy
• Best for Roast Dinner - The Moss Bank
• Best for Cocktails - Cinema Bar
• Best for Breakfast - Shakey J’s
• Best for Fish and Chips - The Nelson Chippery
• Best Beer Garden - Turks Head
• Best for Fitness – Ashley James Ward at Award Health and Fitness
• Best for Tattoos – White Rabbit Tattoo Studio
• Best Independent Shop or Business – Gavin’s Butchers
• Best for Dessert – The Brownie Shack
• Best for Kids – Jo Jingles Warrington, Wigan and St Helens
• Best for Pets – Leanne’s Doggy B&B
• Best for Beauty – Harriet Harmon Studios
• Best for Pizza – Dial-A-Pizza
• Best for Afternoon Tea – Nirvana Coffee Shop
• Best for Burgers – Shakey J’s
• Best Gym – Ruskin Fitness Club
• Best for Curry – Balti Spice

Voting for St Helens’ Best Pub or Bar is currently taking place and we’re also looking for nominations in our final search - Best Restaurant.

Vote for St Helens’ Best Pub or Bar 2024

Nominate your favourite for St Helens Best Restaurant 2024

Ten top cafés and coffee shops in St Helens made the shortlist for the latest Best of 2024 award and Nirvana Coffee Shop has taken this year’s coveted crown – for the second year in a row and doing a Best of 2024 double.

Owner Lindsey Pye opened Nirvana Coffee Shop on Lowfield Lane in November 2016.

Nirvana Coffee Shop opened on Lowfield Lane in November 2016

Lindsey, who is 49 and grew up in Sutton, said: “We are a friendly place providing a warm welcome within a lovely environment and pleasant surroundings.

“Nirvana has an amazing team who always provide great service and freshly made food.

“We offer full English breakfasts, freshly made triple layer sandwiches and wraps, paninis and flat breads as well as jacket potatoes, cakes and not forgetting our award-winning afternoon tea.

“Our barista coffee is very popular and we have a wide range of teas, soft drinks and milkshakes.”

When she left school, Lindsey studied at St Helens College and became a chef working mainly in hotels.

She always had hopes of opening her own coffee shop so that’s exactly what she did!

Lindsey said: “We make a great team here at Nirvana and we always create a positive atmosphere in the coffee shop.

“I would never ask my team to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.

“We pride ourselves on our freshly made food and exceptional customer service.”

Lindsey said: "We make a great team here at Nirvana and we always create a positive atmosphere in the coffee shop."

The afternoon tea, which won St Helens’ Best for Afternoon Tea award in August, is a traditional offering and features a selection of sandwiches, wraps and other savoury items together with freshly made cakes, buttered scones with clotted cream and jam and a choice of any hot drink from the menu or a cold drink from the fridge.

Customers love the milkshakes topped with doughnuts – they’re popular with youngsters who visit Nirvana.

So what do customers think about Nirvana Coffee Shop? Why did they want the venue to win our latest Best of 2024 award?

Visitors like the chilled atmosphere and great blend of coffee with children enjoying the milkshakes.

According to regulars, this is “the best by a country mile” and it’s the place to go “every time”.

One review on their Facebook page said: “Highly recommend this afternoon tea - great selection and great value for money.”

Another said: “Tasty food and plenty of it and it’s always beautifully presented.

“I would highly recommend trying Nirvana - you won’t be disappointed!”

Food is made fresh to order at Nirvana Coffee Shop

Lindsey said: “We pride ourselves that we serve in the local community and our customers always leave happy.

“We were really excited to hear we’d made the shortlist again for St Helens Best Café or Coffee Shop and to win is an amazing achievement for me and the team.

“We certainly didn’t expect to win, having won the Best for Afternoon Tea award earlier in the year, so it’s fantastic.

“We take great pride in the food and drinks that we serve, and it’s amazing to know that our customers think so highly of everything we do.

“We’re thrilled to win this second 2024 award and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our customers who made the effort to nominate us and then vote for us to win again.

“We would like to say a massive thank you to all our customers who have supported over the past seven years and for their votes.

“And a huge thank you to all my staff who make Nirvana so amazing.”