Homegrown eatery, The Lime Tree Café celebrates its 20th Anniversary

Established in 2001 as one of Dubai’s first-ever homegrown, nourishing and wholesome eating concepts, The Lime Tree Café & Kitchen marks its 20th Anniversary in Dubai this month.

In celebration of the momentous milestone, visitors to any of The Lime Tree Café’s seven Dubai-based locations will be able to enjoy a line up of offers and activities from now till September 30, including free coffee with all breakfasts on Mondays, 20% off all food after 5pm till closing during Happy Hour Tuesdays, the opportunity to win whole cakes on Winning Wednesdays, giveaway mini cakes to customers on Birthday Bite Thursdays, and free birthday cookies on weekends.

The homegrown, Dubai-based café will also have a calendar full of events and activities over the coming weeks for guests to enjoy, including kids colouring competitions, giveaways and prizes, plus guess the limes games for dine-in customers, and lucky dips for those who spend over AED 200. There will also be social competitions throughout the month @limetreecafedubai.

The Lime Tree Café’s journey began 20 years ago, when two New Zealand sisters set out with a goal to make great tasting, good-for-you food that was ethically and sustainably sourced, and served in an inviting, laid-back space for the whole community. Since then, the brand has grown across the city from its original location in Jumeirah 1 to the newest in Town Square, which opened in May this year. Other locations include Al Quoz, Motor City, Depachika Food Hall at Nakheel Mall on The Palm, Sheikh Zayed Road and The Springs Souk.  

Following on from their original goal, maintaining the same ethos and values, the owners have further developed the business to include a fully HACCP-certified gluten-free kitchen, a range of beautiful handmade provisions and a catering delivery service. The passion of the founders and the expertise of the team is obvious in every detail, from the descriptions and hand-drawn illustrations on the menus and labels, to the sustainable and ethically sourced ingredients, and the fully biodegradable and compostable packaging. Recycling and environmental best practices have been part of The Lime Tree’s make-up since the beginning, with the team working hard over the years to continually improve and implement the most environmentally friendly packaging to create a sustainable business.

Commenting on the Dubai-born brand’s accomplishments, co-founder of The Lime Tree Café, Corinne Bowker said: “The most integral part of our success has been the continued support and efforts by our team. Many members of our staff have been with us from the start, and we can’t thank them enough. Dubai is a challenging city to establish an F&B outlet. Fast-paced consumers are always looking for the next trend and it is very easy to be in one minute and out the next. I believe we have survived because we never bought into being a trend, we always worked on an approach of making food people can eat, and we hope to continue to do that for the next 20 years.”

Every Lime Tree Café is a welcoming, vibrant space created for the community, serving organic and free range ingredients, fair trade coffee and tea, fresh salads and sandwiches, a la carte dishes and cakes. All locations also offer guests a gourmet shopping experience, where visitors can pick up treats to-go such as jams and chutneys, relish and preserves, flatbreads, biscotti, biscuits, crackers, fudge and plenty more.

Reflecting on The Lime Tree’s growth, Corinne added: “A key focus of ours has always been to source the best quality ingredients, even when it reduces our profits. People know our dishes are good for them and we are now getting much more interest in our gluten-free and vegan options. We are thrilled to commemorate 20 years, and look forward to welcoming our customers to the cafés this month to celebrate our anniversary with them and our team.”

For more information, reservations or catering enquiries, call 04 325 6325, visit thelimetreecafe.com, e-mail [email protected], or follow @limetreecafedubai on social media.