A Wrexham cafe has been named the Best Cafe in Wales 2023 at a national award ceremony, which also recognised a second cafe in the city.

Toast Café and Deli and Lot 11 were both recognised in the Best of Welsh Business awards 2023.

Toast Café and Deli, which has only been open since the end of June 2022, came out on top, to the complete surprise of owner Claire Wright.

Claire said she hadn’t been aware they were nominated until she had an email at the end of January saying that they were finalists.

The awards are not based on a judging panel, but votes from customers, so Claire is extremely thankful for everyone who voted.

She said: “We’re truly grateful for all the customers who took the time out to vote for us.”

The Leader: Toast Toast

Claire, and her husband Paul Wright went along to the award ceremony in Cardiff over the weekend (March 11 and 12), where the café was announced as the winner.

She said: “Me and my husband, our jaws dropped to the floor when that was announced, totally unexpected.”

She added: “We (thought) it’d be nice to go down and have the experience of it even if we don’t win. It’s just nice to have been a part of it and celebrate that we are one of the top eight cafes in Wales but to win it, that was beyond our expectations.”

Since the win, customers have been celebrating and praising the café.

Claire added: “We’ve had loads of customers coming in to see the trophy. We’ve put it up pride of place on the deli counter so everyone can see it.

“We’ve had lots of nice cards off everybody as well so really been embraced. We call our customers, affectionately, our Toasties so we’re really thankful to all our Toasties for nominating us and getting us this award.”

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Lot 11 was awarded Highly Commended this year, having been recognised in the awards three years in a row.

The Leader: Lot 11 in Wrexham Lot 11 in Wrexham (Image: Google Maps)

Sarah Baker, the owner of the café said: “We’ve been nominated for the past three years so we won the first, came runner up last year and then this year we came Highly Commended so its good that we’ve been recognised in all of them.”