Articles

If a restaurant has “multiple sets of hours”, Google’s guidelines say to use the hours when diners can sit down and dine in, and failing that takeout hours. More hours should in general be a subset of your primary hours.

6 November 2026

Google’s guidelines say to use the description for services, products, mission and history, with no links of any type. The name should be your real-world name, and unnecessary information in it could lead to suspension.

5 November 2026

Google’s help page says photos show only after you verify your profile. It lists JPG or PNG between 10 KB and 5 MB as standards for photos to look best, and recommends 720 px by 720 px. A photo can take up to 24 to 48 hours to appear.

5 November 2026

Google picks the site name shown above a result automatically. It says WebSite structured data on the home page is most important if you want to specify a preference.

4 November 2026

Google says it does not index URLs that return a 4xx status code and removes them if they were indexed. Here is what its pages say about 404s, redirects, soft 404s and server errors, applied to a café website.

3 November 2026

Google says it uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking, and recommends responsive design. Here is what its page says, applied to a café website.

3 November 2026

Google calls alt text the most important attribute for image metadata, warns against keyword stuffing, and says filenames give very light clues. Here is what its image guidance says, applied to café photos.

2 November 2026

Google says its ranking systems use Core Web Vitals, and also that good scores do not guarantee a top position. Here is what its two pages say about speed, applied to a café website.

2 November 2026

Google's LocalBusiness documentation requires address and name, and recommends openingHoursSpecification, telephone and url. Here is how it shows hours, including past midnight and special dates, applied to a café.

1 November 2026

Google builds a result's title from several sources, but says to write a descriptive, concise title element, and it only sometimes uses your meta description. Here is what its pages say, for a café.

1 November 2026

The CSO puts “Restaurants, cafe and the like” up 3.5% in the year to September 2026, “Bars and Pubs” up 3.8% and “Canteens, cafeterias and refectories” up 6.0%, against 4.1% for “All Items”. These are household price indices.

31 October 2026

The CSO puts Non-alcoholic beverages in Ireland up 0.4% in the year to September 2026, Soft drinks up 2.1%, Fruit and vegetable juices down 0.1% and Water down 3.0%. These are Consumer Price Index series, not trade prices.

31 October 2026

The CSO says 64.2% of enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in the manufacturing, construction and selected services sectors bought cloud email in 2025, up from 52.3% in 2023.

30 October 2026

The CSO says 32.6% of enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services had web sales in 2025, against 35.9% in 2024 and 30.4% in 2023.

30 October 2026

The CSO says 20.2% of enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services used AI technologies in 2025, up from 8.1% in 2023.

29 October 2026

The CSO puts eggs in Ireland up 6.2% in the year to September 2026, bread and bakery products up 0.9% and cheese up 0.3%. Butter and other oils and fats derived from milk is down 9.3% in the year to September 2026. These are household prices, not trade prices.

28 October 2026

The CSO table ICA71 gives 43.0% for any paid internet advertising in 2024, for enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services, up from 33.3% in 2016.

28 October 2026

The CSO says 28.6% of enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in manufacturing, construction and selected services had online ordering, reservation, or booking on their websites in 2025, and 66.5% had goods, services, or price information.

27 October 2026

The CSO counts 700 job vacancies in Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I) at the end of Q2 2026, a job vacancy rate of 0.3% against 1.3% for All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T). Q2 2026 is preliminary.

27 October 2026

The CSO counts 9,821 Public and private limited companies and 6,092 Individual proprietorship among 16,783 Active Enterprises in Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56) in 2024.

26 October 2026

The Central Bank of Ireland's table puts Non-Domestic card spending in Restaurants/Dining at 19.3% of the total in 2025 by our arithmetic. The highest month from March 2023 was July 2025 at 25.6%. Card payments only.

26 October 2026

The CSO's table BRA34 gives 1,921 Active Enterprise in Co. Cork in 2024 for Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56), against 4,240 in Co. Dublin and 16,783 in Ireland.

25 October 2026

The CSO counts 12,641 of 16,783 Active Enterprises in Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56) in the Under 10 persons engaged class in 2024, and 168,741 Persons Engaged in Active Enterprises in all.

24 October 2026

The Central Bank of Ireland puts card payments in Restaurants/Dining at 1,005.9 million euro and in Groceries/Perishables at 1,858.3 million euro for August 2026, which is 54.1 euro per 100 euro by our arithmetic. Card payments only.

24 October 2026

The CSO counts 1,868 Enterprise Births in 2024 for Food and Beverage Service Activities (I56), and 1,586 Final Enterprise Deaths in 2022, the latest final year. Cupán Studio sets out 2019 to 2024.

23 October 2026

The CSO puts average weekly household expenditure on Meals away from home (including takeout tea/coffee) at 30.68 euro in 2023, against 26.27 euro in 2015. These are averages per household, with no price adjustment.

22 October 2026

The Central Bank of Ireland puts Remote card payments in its Restaurants/Dining sub-sector at 111.2 million euro in August 2026, 11.1% of the sub-sector total by our arithmetic. These are card payments only, not total sales.

22 October 2026

The CSO's table ANA13 gives turnover for Food and beverage service activities (56) in Ireland as 9,693.3 million euro in 2022, the latest year, with 16,245 enterprises. Cupán Studio sets out 2018 to 2022.

21 October 2026

The Central Bank of Ireland puts card spending in its Restaurants/Dining sub-sector at 1,005.9 million euro in August 2026, up 12.6% on August 2025 by our arithmetic. These are card payments only, not total sales.

20 October 2026

The CSO puts coffee and coffee substitutes in Ireland up 2.0% in the year to September 2026, milk down 3.7%, tea down 0.5% and electricity up 8.1%. These are household prices, not what a café pays.

19 October 2026

The CSO food service volume index was 139.1 in August 2026, 1.9% below a year earlier and 26.6% below August 2023. In value it is 1.5% up on a year earlier.

18 October 2026

The CSO counts 16,783 active food and beverage service enterprises in Ireland in 2024, up from 16,580 in 2023. The CSO gives one count for all of I56, with no café-only number.

18 October 2026

The CSO puts the annual rate for restaurants and cafés in Ireland at 3.5% in September 2026, against 4.1% for all items. Eating out is up 11.0% since December 2023 and all prices 7.6%.

17 October 2026

The FSAI has reported 70 Closure Orders and 10 Prohibition Orders for January to September 2026, 80 in all. The count for each month, with the 2025 and 2024 totals and a CSV.

16 October 2026

In the second quarter of 2026 the CSO puts average hourly earnings in Irish accommodation and food service at €18.08 and weekly earnings at €506.78, with 188,500 people in work. The CSO gives one combined figure for the sector, not a café-only one.

16 October 2026

Open your Business Profile, select Edit profile, then Hours, and choose Temporarily closed. Google says to use it for closures of more than 7 days, the off-season or no end date; for shorter ones, it points you to Special hours.

15 October 2026

The Workplace Relations Commission says there is generally no statutory entitlement to be paid if an employee cannot attend work because of extreme weather. Any better arrangement is a matter for agreement.

15 October 2026

Most café staff in Ireland get 4 working weeks of annual leave a year, worked out by 1,365 hours, 1/3 of a week a month, or 8% of hours, Citizens Information says. Part-timers generally get 8% of hours worked.

14 October 2026

The FSAI says food handlers must be supervised, and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene based on their activity. A course is not always required, and there is no set refresher frequency.

14 October 2026

The 11-hour rule in Ireland gives an employee 11 consecutive hours of rest in any 24 hours, Citizens Information and the WRC say. A 15-minute break comes after more than 4½ hours and a 30-minute break after more than 6.

13 October 2026

An Irish employer must give a new employee the core terms in writing within 5 days of starting and the remaining terms within 1 month, Citizens Information and the WRC say. Here is what goes in each statement.

13 October 2026

Statutory sick leave in 2026 is 5 days a calendar year, the Department of Social Protection says, once an employee has 13 weeks with the employer. Sources from 2025 give the pay as 70% of normal pay up to €110 a day.

12 October 2026

The Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022 has applied since 1 December 2022. Card tips go to staff, a tips notice must be displayed, and a charge called a service charge is treated as a tip.

12 October 2026

To register a food business in Ireland, you notify the HSE online through the National Environmental Health Service before you start trading, even if you work from home. What it asks for and what happens next, with sources.

11 October 2026

From 1 July 2026 Revenue says restaurant and catering services, hot takeaway food and hot coffee and tea are at the second reduced rate, 9 percent. Soft drinks and bottled water stay at 23 percent.

11 October 2026

A coffee van in Ireland needs two separate permissions: a notification to the HSE, valid nationwide, and a casual trading licence from each council where you trade. What each asks for, with sources.

10 October 2026

Google says there is no extra step for AI Overviews: a page must be indexed and able to show a snippet, and the usual SEO basics still apply. Here is what that means for a café.

10 October 2026

Budget 2027 was announced on 6 October 2026. For a café the main changes are a minimum wage of €14.94 from 1 January 2027 and an employer PRSI threshold raised from €552 to €600 a week.

9 October 2026

The FSAI can close a food business down or stop it handling, preparing or selling a food. The reasons it gave for June 2026 orders, and what a café can do about each.

6 October 2026

You must register a business name with the CRO within one month if your café trades under anything other than your own true name. It costs €20 online or €40 on paper, and it does not protect the name.

6 October 2026

The October bank holiday is Monday 26 October 2026. Set Special hours on your Google Business Profile for up to 6 days, and give staff a paid day off, an extra day of leave, an extra day's pay or a paid day off within a month.

5 October 2026

Open your Business Profile, select Edit menu, then type in sections and items, upload a photo or PDF for Google's AI to turn into a menu, or add menu photos. Changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show.

4 October 2026

The national minimum wage in Ireland is €14.15 an hour since 1 January 2026, with lower rates of €11.32, €12.74 and €9.91 for 18, 19 and under 18. Tips do not count towards it.

4 October 2026

To reply to a Google review, verify your Business Profile, open Read reviews, select Reply and write your answer. Google checks it, posts it as your business, and tells the reviewer. Google's tips for good and bad reviews are here.

4 October 2026

Irish cafés must declare the 14 allergens in writing for every food and drink, before the customer has to ask, and per item, not ‘our food contains’. The 14, the rules from the FSAI, and how to lay them out on a café menu.

3 October 2026

Adding or claiming a café on Google Maps is free. Search for it, add or claim it, verify by phone, email, video or postcard, then wait up to five business days for Google's review. The steps, the waits and the mistakes that reset them.

3 October 2026

There is no single coffee licence in Ireland. Every café and coffee cart must notify the HSE before opening; tables outside, a pitch on the street and music each need their own licence. What applies, with sources.

3 October 2026