News Cafe is a full-service cafe-bar and cocktail

Cocktail

A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...

 franchise restaurant chain founded in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1995.

The first News Cafe opened in 1995 in Hatfield

Hatfield, Pretoria

Hatfield is a suburb in Pretoria with a high density of students and student accommodation due to hosting the University of Pretoria's main campus...

, Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

, shortly after the lifting of sanctions

International sanctions

International sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.There are several types of sanctions....

 against South Africa signalled the entry of overseas hospitality franchises such as McDonalds into the South African food service market.

The News Cafe concept relies in particular on:

• High-profile location - usually in suburban districts with an established daytime and evening restaurant trade
• Innovative food menu, developed centrally and changed every four to six months
• Night-club type atmosphere, usually with dance music and a small dance floor.

The News Cafe brand is owned by the holding company Fournews Developments; it has branches across southern Africa, including a News Cafe in Gaborone

Gaborone

' is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana....

, Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

.