The cafe says “we have come to the difficult decision to close The Bicycle Thief permanently.”

”We want to thank you for your support over the past 15 years and let you know how grateful we have felt to meet you, serve you, see you through the celebrations and be a small part of your world.”

The Bicycle Thief was originally located on Latimer Square, but the cafe had to leave the building following the Canterbury quakes.

Five years later, The Bicycle Thief re-opened in Tai Tapu in 2016.

The cafe says “after (a government agency) CERA acquired The Bicycle Thief in Latimer Square, we grieved the loss of that restaurant as though it were a person. “

“When it was finally time to go, we pulled the booths out, packed away the lamps and stored the surviving crockery – thinking that if we could hold onto all of the pieces, we might still keep the magic.”

“It was 5 years later when we reopened in Tai Tapu and finally realised, what makes the space is the people that fill it.

From our incredible staff – some of whom have been working with us for the better part of 13 years, to the regular faces that have become like family and all of the others in between.”