Belfast·SPG009 Retail and Main Town Centre Uses·Page 27·3.7.2
Restaurant and café use exemption from non-retail threshold
Restaurants and cafés are excluded from the non-retail use threshold calculation to provide flexibility and recognize the synergy between retail and food/beverage uses.
Whilst restaurant's and café's are considered to be sui-generis uses as they have no use class specified within The Planning (Use Classes) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015, for the purposes of this policy the non-retail threshold excludes proposals for restaurant and café use. This approach seeks to allow a degree of flexibility and recognises the synergy between retail use and restaurants and cafes.
Source — /Users/richardhill/Documents/planning-arch-project/data/documents/belfast/SPG009 Retail and Main Town Centre Uses.pdf