Days Out NI
Farm Shop Craigantlet, Co. Down

McKee's Country Store & Restaurant

A working family farm in the Craigantlet Hills with a food hall, a butchery and a proper restaurant at the front of it.

5 photos
Mon–Sat, 8.30am–5.30pmClosed Sundays
Free to visitPay for what you eat and buy
CraigantletNear Newtownards, Co. Down
Get directions Official website
1–2 hrsHow long
All agesBest for
IndoorsStore & restaurant
On siteParking
Mon–SatClosed Sun

A working farm with a food hall built onto the front of it — butchery, bakery, deli, a room lined floor to ceiling with sweet jars, and a restaurant that seats a hundred and thirty. The hens are by the car park entrance, and if you come early the eggs are still warm.

  • What you'll do — work your way through the counters, let the children loose in the old-fashioned sweet room, and sit down to breakfast or lunch cooked in their own kitchen from their own beef, chicken and eggs.
  • How long — about an hour to shop it properly. Two if you eat.
  • It's closed on Sundays. Monday to Saturday, 8.30am to 5.30pm. Breakfast stops at 11.30, and hot food last orders are 4.15.
  • Afternoon tea has to be booked. Everything else you simply walk into — no booking for breakfast, lunch or the shop.
  • The honest steer on price — the meat from their own herd is fairly priced and the reason most regulars come. The made-up dinners, pies and desserts are dearer than a supermarket, and reviewers say so. Go for the butchery and the baking and you'll be delighted.
  • Worth knowing — 4.6 out of 5 across more than 1,500 Google reviews, which is a lot of people agreeing. They also deliver Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday if you order before 3pm the day before.
Plan your visit

Come for the breakfast, stay for the shop

The country store and farm shop run Monday to Saturday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, closed Sunday. In the restaurant, breakfast is 8.30 to 11.30 and lunch is 11.30 to 4.30, with hot food last orders at 4.15. Afternoon tea is served 2.30 to 4.30 and booking is essential — that's the one thing you can't just turn up for. Everything else is walk-in. Ring 028 9182 1304 to book the afternoon tea or to check anything before you travel.

Mon–Sat · closed Sunday Restaurant seats 130 Parking on site Butchery · bakery · deli Gift barn & sweet room
Bring the children in through the front:

Some of the hens are kept near the car park entrance, so there's something to look at before you've even gone inside — and the sweet room, with its wall of glass jars, is the bit small people remember. Hours, prices and what's on the counters can change, especially around Christmas when the store runs different collection times, so confirm anything you're relying on before you set off.

What's on site

Four counters and a restaurant

  • 🥩The farm butcheryBeef from their own Aberdeen Angus herd, raised on the hills you drove over to get here, plus lamb, chicken and pork. The thing most people come back for.
  • 🥖Bakery, deli and dessertsBreads, scones and traybakes, a deli counter of ready meals, pies, cooked meats and salads, and a dessert counter that does a lot of the Christmas heavy lifting.
  • 🍬The sweet roomAn old-fashioned sweet shop — four shelves of glass jars along a stone wall, under bunting. Take the children in and give yourself ten minutes.
  • 🍳The restaurantSeats 130 under open beams, with the kitchen visible through an arch in the brick. Breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, cooked from the farm's own beef, chicken and eggs.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Cost
Free to walk in — you pay for what you eat and what you buy.
Store hours
Monday to Saturday, 8.30am–5.30pm. Closed Sunday.
Restaurant
Breakfast Monday to Saturday 8.30–11.30am. Lunch 11.30am–4.30pm, hot food last orders 4.15pm. Afternoon tea 2.30–4.30pm, booking essential. Closed Sunday.
Booking
Only afternoon tea needs booking. Breakfast, lunch and the shop are walk-in.
Parking
On site, and some of the hens are kept near the car park entrance.
Food, honestly
The butchery is what regulars rate — their own beef, fairly priced. Reviewers are consistently warm about the staff and the range, and consistently note that the prepared dinners, pies and desserts cost more than a supermarket. Both things are true; buy accordingly.
Delivery
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Order before 3pm the day before to guarantee delivery or collection.
Dogs
Assistance dogs are accommodated. We haven't been able to confirm a policy for other dogs — ring ahead and ask before you bring one.
Accessibility
The store and restaurant are on the level with a large open floor. For anything specific, a quick call is the surest answer.
Also on site
A gift barn with homeware, flowers and cards, plants and seasonal bedding outside, hampers, gift cards and a loyalty card.
Reputation
4.6 out of 5 from more than 1,500 Google reviews.
Contact
028 9182 1304 · mckeesproduce.com
Questions

Before you go

Do I need to book a table?
Not for breakfast or lunch — walk in. Afternoon tea is the exception and booking is essential for that, so ring ahead on 028 9182 1304.
Is it open on Sundays?
No. Monday to Saturday only, 8.30am to 5.30pm, and the restaurant closes a little earlier than the shop.
What time does the hot food stop?
Breakfast runs to 11.30am and lunch to 4.30pm, with hot food last orders at 4.15pm. Come before four if you want a cooked meal rather than a coffee and a traybake.
Is it good with young children?
Yes. Some of the hens are near the car park entrance, so there's a look at real animals before you're through the door, and the old-fashioned sweet room with its wall of jars is the part they'll talk about on the way home.
Is it expensive?
It depends what you buy. The meat from their own herd is well priced for the quality. The prepared meals, pies and desserts cost more than a supermarket equivalent — that's the most common note in the reviews, and it's fair.
Can I order without going out?
Yes — they deliver on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and orders need to be in before 3pm the day before for delivery or collection.
Getting there

McKee's Country Store & Restaurant, 28 Holywood Road, Newtownards BT23 4TQ — up in the Craigantlet Hills about five kilometres north-west of Newtownards, with parking on site.

Directions on Google Maps Official website See it on our map

Book afternoon tea or check the day: 028 9182 1304

Nearby

Make more of the day

Bullhouse Brew CoBrewery · 2 min drive Kiltonga Nature ReserveLakeside walk · Newtownards Helen's TowerClandeboye · woodland walk Strangford shore walkNewtownards to Mount Stewart
The story

Farming these hills since 1922

The lettering on the restaurant wall says it plainly: farming in Craigantlet since 1922. Five generations of McKees have worked the same 400 acres up in these hills, and the shop you're standing in is what happened when a farming family decided to sell what they grow straight to the people who eat it, instead of sending it away and hoping.

Colin and Linda McKee run it now, with all four of their children — the fifth generation — in the business. Isaac manages the farm, having learned it from his grandfather David. Faye keeps a flock of Texel ewes and lambs them in the spring. Caleb runs the store. Solomon turns his hand to whatever needs doing. About 700 cattle are finished here every year, mostly Aberdeen Angus, and a thousand free-range hens lay somewhere around 900 eggs a day between them.

That's why the signs over the counters are worded the way they are. "The meat at this counter was raised on these hills" isn't marketing borrowed from somewhere — it's a description of the field you can see out the window. They've since put solar panels and a wind turbine on the place, which is the same instinct pointed at the electricity bill.

Go early, when the eggs are still warm from the shed. Get the beef. Eat the breakfast. And enjoy the fact that on this one, you can see exactly where it all came from.

The best places and events in NI — twice a week, free.Newsletter, Mondays and Fridays · one tap to stop