SAOL Café is an initiative by NUI Galway & SCCUL Enterprises to develop a community based social enterprise café working with Employability Galway and other disability support services, to give employment to people traditionally marginalised from employment opportunities, thereby creating a social inclusion model. The majority of Saol Café staff either have some form of a disability or a barrier to employment.

Each step on the way we have aimed to be inclusive at every opportunity.

The Café is the first community-based social enterprise café to exist on a higher education campus in Ireland. We are located at the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), NUI Galway, Northern Campus, Upper Newcastle Road, Dangan, Galway.

Why not drop into us today and check our our daily specials.

Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 8.30am to 3.45pm

We also offer a Catering Service

Contact Us

Winner of the JCI Galway friendly business awards

Each summer sees JCI branches across Ireland run the JCI Friendly Business Awards. These awards were set up to recognise businesses that excel in serving the needs of the local community and play a vital role in its development. We live in challenging times for small businesses and the aim of the Friendly Business Awards is to celebrate the value these businesses bring to our local communities every day.

At Saol Café we love good food

Food & drink for us is about getting together. It’s about great people and importantly is accessible to all. Whether you are grabbing a snack or a sit down meal we offer it all.

Local Produce

We endeavor to source our products from local artisan producers such as Kinvara Smoked Salmon, Sugar & Spice, Lizzy’s Relish, Connemara Organic Seaweed Company, Castlemine and Solaris Teas. Whether it is our fresh fruit & vegetables, fish or meat from our suppliers everything is selected on taste and quality.

Sourcing

Our foods provenance is also paramount in our minds so we take the time to ensure our ingredients are from sustainable & ethical sources so you can just enjoy knowing Saol Café has done the hard work.

Fresh Produce

Whether you are looking for breakfast or lunch, we pride ourselves on fresh pastries, baked goods, generously filled homemade sandwiches, freshly prepared salads, light lunches and homemade gluten & dairy free soups.

Organic Produce

To drink we have fabulous organic & fairtrade teas & coffee and an extensive drinks selection from freshly pressed juices to live kombucha’s.

All our milk is organic, there are also soya and almond milk options.

Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free options as standard.

“Always Believe that Something Wonderful is about to Happen.” 🙂

What Our Customers are Saying

“We have had two recent events with visitors to the campus and Saol are not only reliable and friendly but their food is absolutely stunning! We always receive such beautiful compliments on our hosting due to the Saol food.”

Lorraine Tansey

“Just love saol cafe! fab locally produced food. friendly, helpful staff. great place to meet for a coffee and a spot of healthy lunch. comfy, cozy, light, airy ambient atmosphere. love saol cafe!” 🙂

Helen Raftery Dunne

“Just love the great coffee and the super customer service. Can’t wait to come back for some food next time…”

Poilin Ní Dhuibhir