One of Warsaw’s most recognizable restaurant brands, the famous Blue Cactus Restaurant&Bar, will soon return to the capital’s restaurant map. The new nearly 450 sqm. restaurant and bar will complement the strong gastronomic offer planned for Norblin Factory, revitalized by the Capital Park Group in Warsaw’s Wola district.
Blue Cactus opened in 1996 as one of the first large, Western-style restaurants in Warsaw. Featuring a menu of traditional American fare like steaks, burgers, ribs and popular Mexican dishes like fajitas, burritos, and nachos, Varsovians quickly made Blue Cactus the place to dine and drink with friends. The original Blue Cactus served Varsovians for over 22 years having over 1.5 million guests. The owners have been searching the perfect location to re-launch the brand very selectively. The new Blue Cactuswill be located within the historical Norblin Factory stamping room, built in the second half of the 19th century as an extension to the former factory house of Edward Luckfield and Gustaw Henniger. Thanks to investor’s efforts to retain the valor of the original factory, the Blue Cactus interior will benefit from exposed original brick, high ceilings, anda spacious indoor patio offering year-round climate-controlled patio dining. The heart of the restaurant will be an open kitchen, with family dining tables set around it, so that guests waiting for a meal will be able to engage with the chefs preparing the dishes. The restaurant’s Patio Bar will serve up Blue Cactus’s famous margaritas. Blue Cactus in Norblin Factory will also offer a cosy dining area, perfect for private meetings with friends or relaxing with drinks. IMR Architekci, the designers of the original Blue Cactus, have been engaged to complete the interior design of the new premises and they will propose a “re-cycled/up-cycled” theme, even including items from the original restaurant (located on Zajączkowska St. in the district of Mokotów), such as hand-made furniture, paintings and other iconic Blue Cactus elements.
– We are so excited to re-launch Blue Cactus in Norblin Factory! This project is located in the future heart of Warsaw, an area with first-class office, retail, and residential offers located within both modern and historical buildings – says John Gabrovic, owner of Blue Cactus Restaurant&Bar. – Our customers live here, work here, and play here in new Wola. We greatly respect the care Capital Park has placed in retaining the historical elements of Norblin Factory, not unlike how we intend to retain and re-cycle the great elements of the Blue Cactus brand. We also think we have one of the best location within the Norblin project as the historical stamping room gives us an amazing historical brick building to re-create our colorful interior and friendly dining experience. We look forward to the high challenge of contributing successfully to the excellent offer Capital Park has assembled for Norblin Factory – he adds.
The owners of Blue Cactus emphasize that the new place will clearly refer to the previous location, but there will also be a lot of new features that will meet the expectations of the dynamically changing tastes of guests.
– The new Blue Cactus in Norblin Factory will retain the soul and DNA of the original one, specifically our warm, exciting interiors, bold-flavored dishes, cold and tasty margaritas, and unparalleled friendly service – continues John Gabrovic. – We are, however, looking forward to introducing a new menu meeting consumer’s new preferences including healthy fish dishes and some vegan options. Of course we will not change our popular appetizer menu with delicious sharing plates and we look forward to holding our popular Teach & Taste events where our guests learn out to make our delicious salsas and Mexican dishes. The new Blue Cactus team will also include some of the wonderful team members who have worked with us for many years in Mokotów – concludes.
The restaurant will also offer catering on request and organizing private or business occasional meetings. Blue Cactus will start operating in Q4 2021.
–We want our gueststo discover something new every day and to want them to be at Norblin Factory as often as possible. The owners of the Blue Cactus restaurant share similar values – by offering their guests not only excellent cuisine, but first of all, exceptional service and a great atmosphere. They are also keen on sharing their knowledge and culinary know-how during numerous workshops. This is why we are really glad that such a diverse and popular concept will be able to continue its activities in cooperation with us, and thus, contribute to building high quality and enriching the diversity of the restaurant offer of the Norblin Factory – says Kinga Nowakowska, operational director and board member of the Capital Park Group, responsible for revitalization of the Norblin Factory.
The revitalization works of the Norblin Factory, situated in the heart of the Warsaw’s Wola district, have come to the final stage, and the whole area will open for visitors already in the third quarter of this year. The whole project will have an area of 65,000 sq.m., with 41,000 sq.m. of a modern A+ class office space, and the remaining 24,000 sq.m. filled with entertainment, culture, food, service and retail concepts. Among the tenants of the revitalized complex, there will be BioBazar – the first market in Poland offering only organic products, or a food hall with themed sections and 26 original restaurant concepts (3,200 sq.m.). There will also be restaurants and bars with waiter service, such as the abovementioned Blue Cactus Restaurant & Bar. The office part of the complex will house such tenants, as Allegro.pl (16,200 sq.m.), the Global Business Services Center Japan Tobacco International (8,500 sq.m.) and ISS World Service (4,000 sq.m.). The revitalized space will also become a cultural destination. There will be, among other concepts, a boutique cinema with seven screening rooms for 620 people (3,300 sq.m.), supervised by the Directors Guild of Poland, also moving their seat to the Norblin Factory. Visitors will be able to enjoy live music in the Piano Bar, and a music and concert club will be set up in one of the historic halls. The first fully interactive and digital art gallery in Poland – ART BOX Experience – will take up the area of nearly 800 sq.m. there.
Capital Park Group is the investor and originator of the revitalization of the Norblin Factory. PRC Architekci studio is responsible for the architectural design. The main contractor is Warbud SA, in cooperation with such companies as Soletanche Polska, Maat4 and TKT Engineering. Monument Service is responsible for activities related to the conservation of monuments.
