Days Out NI
Farm Shop Randalstown, Co. Antrim

Hillstown Farm Shop & Cafe

A working beef farm with its own butchery counter, a farm shop and a cafe with a tractor mounted on the wall.

5 photos
Mon–Sat, 9am–5pmClosed Sundays
Free to visitPay for what you eat and buy
Glebe RoadRandalstown, Co. Antrim
1 hrHow long
All agesBest for
IndoorsShop & cafe
On siteParking
Mon–SatClosed Sun

A beef farm that got tired of sending its cattle away and opened a butchery counter instead — then a shop, then a cafe with a full-size red tractor bolted to the wall above the tables.

  • What you'll do — buy meat from the farm's own herd at a proper butchery counter, work along the shelves of local produce, and sit down in the cafe for lunch under the tractor.
  • How longabout an hour, shop and a bite together. It's a stop, not an afternoon.
  • Closed on Sundays. Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
  • The meat is the point — home-produced and multi-award-winning, cut by a master butcher. If you buy one thing here, buy that.
  • Can't get there? They deliver across the UK and Ireland. Free delivery in Northern Ireland over £75, over £100 to the Republic, and free over £50 if you're in BT41, BT42 or BT43.
  • Worth knowing4.5 out of 5 from 143 Google reviews, and the man who farms the cattle has been at it for the best part of sixty-five years.
Plan your visit

One stop, three counters, six days a week

Hillstown opens Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm and is closed on Sunday. There's no booking — you walk into the shop and you walk into the cafe. It sits out the Glebe Road between Randalstown and Ballymena with parking at the door, which makes it an easy break off the M22 rather than a trip in its own right. Ring 028 9447 8662 if you want to check anything, or to sort a bespoke order at the butchery counter before you drive out.

Mon–Sat · 9am–5pm Butchery counter Cafe on site Parking at the door UK & Ireland delivery
The honest steer:

This is a farm shop and a butchers with a good cafe attached — not a day out with activities. Come for the meat, stay for the lunch, and pair it with something else nearby if you've a car full of children. Prices, stock and opening times can change, so confirm anything you're relying on before you travel.

What's on site

Four reasons to pull in

  • 🥩The butcheryTheir own grass-fed beef, cut at the counter by a master butcher, alongside the rest of the range. Multi-award-winning, and the reason the whole place exists.
  • 🍽️The cafeLunch under open beams and a red tractor fixed to the wall. Not a tea urn in a corner — a proper room with proper food.
  • 🥧The glass casePies, tarts, cheesecakes and traybakes, which is the section that costs you more than you planned on the way past the till.
  • 🛒The shopShelves of local produce running the length of the room — the store cupboard end of a farm shop, stocked from the farm and the neighbours.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Cost
Free to walk in. You pay for what you eat and what you buy.
Opening
Monday to Saturday, 9am–5pm. Closed Sunday.
Booking
None needed — the shop and the cafe are both walk-in.
The meat
Home-produced from the farm's own herd, cut on site. Multi-award-winning, and sold at the counter or delivered.
Delivery
Across the UK and Ireland. Free in Northern Ireland over £75, over £100 to the Republic, and free over £50 in BT41, BT42 and BT43. Ask for a specific delivery day in the order comments.
Parking
On site, at the door.
Dogs
We haven't been able to confirm a dog policy — ring ahead and ask before you bring one.
Accessibility
Level access from the car park into the shop and cafe. For anything specific, a quick call is the surest answer.
Reputation
4.5 out of 5 from 143 Google reviews.
Contact
028 9447 8662 · hillstownfarmshop.com
Questions

Before you go

Is it open on Sundays?
No — Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
Do I need to book the cafe?
No. Walk in. It's a farm shop cafe rather than a restaurant, so turn up when you're hungry.
Is the beef actually theirs?
Yes — Hillstown is a working farm and the shop was built to sell what the farm produces. The farmer behind it has been working cattle here for the best part of sixty-five years.
Can they deliver instead?
They deliver across the UK and Ireland. It's free in Northern Ireland over £75, free to the Republic over £100, and free over £50 if you live in the BT41, BT42 or BT43 postcodes.
Is there anything for children?
It's a shop and a cafe rather than an attraction — but a tractor on the wall goes a surprisingly long way, and there's plenty nearby to build a day around.
What else is close?
Our Brewery at Randalstown, Galgorm Castle Estate and its crazy golf, and Abhainn Cruises on Lough Neagh at Toome are all within about ten minutes.
Getting there

Hillstown Farm Shop & Cafe, 128 Glebe Road, Randalstown, Antrim BT41 3DT — out the country road between Randalstown and Ballymena, with parking at the door.

Check the day or order at the counter: 028 9447 8662

Nearby

Make more of the day

The story

The farm that stopped sending the cattle away

Hillstown is a working farm first. The shop came second, and it came from an old frustration: you raise good animals, you send them off, and somebody else decides what they're worth and who eats them. So the family put in a butchery counter and started selling their own beef over it, direct.

Francis is the farmer, and by the shop's own account he has been at it for the best part of sixty-five years — a stockman who watched the whole trade change and went on doing it the traditional way anyway, with animal welfare as the thing that doesn't get traded off. Nigel runs the business across the farm, the butchers and the restaurant. Ally is the head butcher and the one deciding what makes it onto the counter.

The cafe grew out of the same logic. If the beef is that good, cook it here and let people eat it fifty yards from the field. Somebody then bolted a full-size Massey to the wall above the tables, which tells you the tone of the place better than any menu would.

Go for the meat. Have the lunch. And take a look at the counter before you order — whatever the butcher has put front and centre that morning is what he'd want you to eat.

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