Amanda Roche Kelly, MD, Just Eat Ireland (centre), with Paul Cadden (left) and Alan Cadden (right), Saba To Go, winners of Best Takeaway Ireland in the annual Just Eat National Takeaway Awards. Photo: Naoise Culhane

Mayo owners of Saba To Go win Best Takeaway Ireland award

SABA To Go in Rathmines has been crowned Ireland’s favourite takeaway for a second consecutive year at the Just Eat National Takeaway Awards.

The Dublin restaurant is run by Mayo brothers Paul and Alan Cadden whose family are synonymous with excellence in the food industry back home.

Set to benefit from a media support package worth €20,000, Saba To Go Rathmines is just one of this year’s winners under 28 award categories, voted for by the public. Over 23,000 votes were cast for local and independent takeaway eateries right across Ireland in recent weeks, with the nation out in force to show its support for a distressed but resilient restaurant sector.

Having adapted their own business model in response to the pandemic and subsequent closure of their Clarendon Street and Baggot Street outlets, Paul Cadden said: “My brother Alan, the Saba To Go team and I are absolutely delighted to have won such prestigious awards this year. Winning six categories including Best Takeaway Thai, Best Takeaway Dublin and the overall Best Takeaway Ireland for a second year in a row is all down to the incredible hard work and dedication of our team.

“They really have been amazing and have pulled out all the stops to ensure we continued to deliver great food and service. 2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year and we sincerely appreciate our customers' support and of course their votes. A big thanks to Just Eat for their partnership in our business, their support and for running these prestigious National Takeaway Awards.”

Commenting on the announcement of this year’s winners, Amanda Roche-Kelly, managing director at Just Eat Ireland, said: “These awards have always been about giving our customers the opportunity to support their local restaurant, celebrating excellence in the industry. This year, in particular, the level of public engagement has been phenomenal and really helps to shine a light on excellence in innovation, resilience and diversity in the face of the huge challenges experienced by our hospitality industry this year.

“During the early stages of the pandemic, our resources were focused on delivering a safe and reliable service to our customers, getting restaurants online so that they could remain trading, efficiently. Further investments in support packages and an expanded infrastructure were later introduced to help them to deliver their much-loved food to more and more people during these hugely difficult times.

“The Just Eat National Takeaway Awards are not just about celebrating and supporting the 2,900 Just Eat restaurant partners, but also those hard-working owners of local and independent restaurants who have adapted their own business model in response to the changing needs of their local communities.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone in the restaurant industry in Ireland who continues to navigate their way through these incredibly difficult times. While hugely important employers in our economy, they are also delivering a service to a changing workforce and a sense of normality to local customers right across Ireland for whom a healthy lunchtime snack delivered straight to your door mid-week, or a more traditional Saturday night takeaway is a chance to kick-start or regroup.”