Millside Restaurant

Millside Restaurant occupies the old schoolhouse in Gracehill, the Moravian settlement village between Ballymena and Ahoghill, in a building put up around two hundred years ago. The family-run restaurant opened in December 2008 and seats seventy-five across rooms that still carry the shape of the original classroom. It is unlicensed, so diners bring their own bottle, and the kitchen runs breakfast, lunch and dinner menus built around local ingredients where they can get them. Portions are generous rather than plated for show, and the dining room shares the building with a small exhibition on the village's history and a visitors' centre. Service leans toward families, with a children's menu and baby-changing facilities alongside a separate function room used for parties. Hours run to nine most weeknights, later than many rural restaurants nearby keep open.