FOUR DUBLIN RESTAURANTS were targeted by masked burglars in the space of just a couple of hours on Tuesday morning, who destroyed property and stole money.

Restaurant owners have said they believe some of the burglaries were carried out by the same people who are deliberately targeting food trucks and small food businesses.

It was a standard end of shift for the staff at burger business The Loading Bay, one of the impacted sites, on Monday evening.

The popular fast food spot, which opened three years ago and is located just off the M50 in an industrial estate in Tallaght, finished serving at 9.30pm.

Just five hours after staff went home, a number of masked men forced their way into the site.

They initially attempted to ram the side door with their shoulders, eventually moving to the shutter at the front of the site and prying it open with tools. A CCTV camera was destroyed in the process.

A plexiglass wall behind the shutter was then smashed, and the men made their way into the site, making their way straight to the till, which they allegedly broke into.

The group then made a quick exit, sprinting from the site and leaving the area in a vehicle.

Loading Bay owner Marcin Konkel only found out about the burglary at 10.30am when he arrived for work.

“They knew what they were doing,” Konkel said, explaining that CCTV footage captured from a second camera at the site appeared to catch the suspected burglars rushing towards a vehicle and leaving the scene after the till was cleared out.

Footage also shows that the men were entirely covered, each wearing face coverings and gloves.

“They got about €400 and nothing else,” Konkel said, “but it’s not about that.”

Konkel added that the Loading Bay has not been targeted by burglers since it opened in 2022.

I’ve been cleaning glass out of the place for the last two days, and I don’t know how much repairs on the shutter and the plexiglass will cost me.

He added that he has had to keep the site closed today, which will impact working hours for staff.

“It’s December and close to Christmas, it’s just such a tough time here for this to happen, it’s ridiculous,” Konkel said.

The Loading Bay wasn’t the only site raided by burglars on Tuesday morning, however.

A total of four food businesses across the county, four of which are located just minutes from the M50, were targeted over the course of less than two hours.

‘Very impressive’ burglary

The Rolling Stoves, fast food burger restaurant in Clongriffin, north Dublin, was burgled at 3.15am.

Suspected burglars first attempted to enter neighbouring coffee shop, Bru Box Coffee. When they could not manage to get through the door, they turned to fast food joint Rolling Stoves.

There, CCTV footage appeared to show at least two man managing to get through the door, beofre proceeding to pocket the contents of the till.

Owner John Scanlon described the burglary as “a very impressive” one.

“They knew exactly what they were doing when they got in,” Scanlon said.

The business owner added that the targeting of small food businesses is a worrying trend.

We are a very small independent business, and robbing our truck is taking money from our kid’s mouth.

He added that he believed the suspected burglars were “100% the same group” that targeted the Loading Bay 30 minutes earlier, as they were wearing similar clothing and balaclavas.

The business is now offering €1,000 cash for information naming the thieves.

Other sites targeted

Less than thirty minutes later, Goat’s Gruff, a sandwich and pizza joint located in a car park along the Strawberry Beds near the Phoenix Park, was burgled.

The incident occurred at around 3.41am, when a group of men allegedly broke the lock off the gate of the car park with wire cutters.

The men then drove their car into the car park, parked up, and three men approached the Goat’s Gruff trailer, cutting the lock to the door and entering the business.

Goat’s Gruff co-founder Ciara Cummins told RTÉ’s Liveline that no money is kept in the trailer overnight, and the men left empty-handed.

“They really didn’t get anything this time, but it’s just just pure vandalism and it’s just disgraceful behavior,” Cummins said.

“Honestly lads, breaking into small family businesses? Absolutely pathetic,” she added, appealing for anyone with information to contact the business.

Cummins also expained that the car used by the men “looks to have been a hatchback”, likely a black Volkswagen Golf.

The owners of the Loading Bay and the Rolling Stoves stated that a similar vehicle was captured in CCTV footage shortly before burglaries at both locations took place.

Elsewhere, Nan Chinese, a restaurant in the city centre, was also targeted between 3 and 4am. 

The locations of the food businesses impacted by burglaries yesterday.

The glass door at the front of the restaurant was smashed, and owners said the interior was “left in chaos” as a result.

“We always believed that being in Dublin 2 meant a safer area, but this incident showed otherwise,” owners said.

Gardaí have confirmed that they are investigating the string of burglaries. No arrest have been made as of yet.

‘Easier to break in’

Loading Bay owner Marcin Konkel said he believed that that the small food businesses were targeted by burglers last night becuase food trucks “are a bit of an outlier”.

“They’re easier to access, you know, easier to break in,” Konkel said.

He added that, given the fact that the burglars wore balaclavas and gloves, finding them “will be very difficult for the guards”.

“It was a night of madness – so many spots targeted. I just hope something can be done.”

He added that he believes tougher sentences would deter burglars.

Rolling Stoves owner John Scanlon echoed this sentiment, stating that “it’s a really hard time to be a business owner in Ireland.”

“I just know from previous experiences that it’s very tough to find burglars like this after they’ve gotten away. I’m not holding out hope.”