Belfast’s Bar + Block is serving its last steaks tomorrow. The Cathedral Quarter steakhouse — inside Premier Inn on Waring Street — shuts for good on Thursday 3 September 2026, along with every other Bar + Block across the UK and Northern Ireland.
That’s all 20 sites going dark on the same day. Whitbread, which owns both Premier Inn and the Bar + Block brand, is pulling out of branded restaurants to run as a pure-play hotel business. The hotel next door keeps trading. The restaurant does not.
We were fans of this one. LoveBelfast went when it first opened in April 2019 — we covered the new kid on the block that summer — and it’s been a handy Cathedral Quarter fallback ever since — Sunday lunch, a proper steak, a drink before you wandered back into the Cathedral Quarter. If you were a regular, you’ll feel this one.
What was Bar + Block?
Bar + Block launched in 2016 as Whitbread’s all-day steakhouse and bar concept. Belfast’s branch opened on Wednesday 24 April 2019 at Premier Inn Belfast City Cathedral Quarter, 2–6 Waring Street, BT1 2DX, replacing the old Four Corners restaurant on the same spot. It sat right in the middle of the quarter’s hotel-and-hospitality strip — handy for guests upstairs and for anyone already out around Waring Street.
If you are mapping a last visit against the rest of the month, our September Belfast what’s-on guide is still the wider calendar. For daytime food elsewhere in the city, start with Belfast’s best brunch spots.
Why it’s closing
Whitbread set out the plan earlier this year: exit its branded restaurant estate, convert some sites into around 600 extra Premier Inn rooms, and sell others as going concerns. Chief executive Dominic Paul has pointed to cost pressures — including business rates and National Insurance — and a push toward a higher-margin hotel model. In comments reported around the strategy, he said the plan would “transform Whitbread into a higher-margin, higher-returning pure-play hotel business.”
Bar + Block is not closing alone. Whitbread’s Cookhouse + Pub and Table Table restaurants are also due to shut on 3 September. Brewers Fayre follows on 7 September, and Beefeater on 10 September. For Belfast readers, the one that hits home is the steakhouse on Waring Street.
A customer email, as reported, told diners the branded restaurants were closing and that every UK and NI Bar + Block would be gone after 3 September. On Instagram, Bar + Block has posted a goodbye across all locations — thanking guests and teams, and inviting people in for one last steak or drink before the doors close.
The hotel stays open
Important distinction: Premier Inn Belfast City Cathedral Quarter keeps going. Whitbread is exiting the restaurant brand, not switching off the hotel. Guests can still book a room on Waring Street; they just will not be walking downstairs to Bar + Block after Thursday.
One last visit?
Final trading day is Thursday 3 September 2026. Address: Premier Inn Belfast City Cathedral Quarter, 2–6 Waring Street, Belfast BT1 2DX.
Were you a Sunday lunch regular? Did this become your go-to steak night in the Cathedral Quarter? Tell us in the comments — we want the local send-off, not a corporate footnote.
If you fancy one more plate before it goes, tomorrow is your last chance.
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