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Original poster

Opening a restaurant in the UK......but where?

81 replies

collision · 19/02/2005 16:35

After spending 2 years in Tuscany and opening a restaurant we have decided that we think we want to move back to the UK. I say that we think we have decided as it is a big move back to the UK. We bought everything new for the restaurant here and so would need an empty place to start again. Does anyone know of an empty property that would be suitable for a small fine dining, child friendly restaurant?

DH is the chef and I would be front of house. We also have 2 ds's of 3 and 3 months so would need somewhere to live too. We would prefer to rent to start with so if anyone has any ideas we would be very grateful.

OP posts:
tamum · 21/02/2005 18:48

Snorted? In Wells?

stickynote · 21/02/2005 19:37

Pleeease come South [pleading emoticon].

Original poster
collision · 21/02/2005 19:42

Stickynote, there are loads of restaurants in the south...did you not read the bit about us being skint?!!

OP posts:
Original poster
collision · 21/02/2005 19:46

lisalisa......can I CAT you? I think I tried and it didnt work.

OP posts:
SecondhandRose · 21/02/2005 19:52

Get yourself a copy of Dalton's Weekly for business premises. Please go to Nantwich, my favourite town.

Original poster
collision · 21/02/2005 19:53

Thanks 2ndhandrose......where do I get it from? A newsagents? We are in the UK in a fortnight so will have a look then.

OP posts:
phatcat · 21/02/2005 19:58

realistically there probably isn't a huge market for the kiddies teas thing - I was just thinking about it from the point of view of how I miss weekends away based around visiting good restaurants which we did a lot of pre-kids and how we'd still do it occasionally now we have a child if it was a) possible to stay over but bring a baby monitor down into the restaurant and b) there was an easy way of getting ds fed on proper food at his usual time, then bathed and put to bed before we got ready and came down to dinner.

SofiaAmes · 21/02/2005 20:49

I think there is a big market for non-smoking casual, but good food restaurants that are child friendly. And by childfriendly, I mean that the staff are helpful and understanding about the needs of children and don't serve boiling hot soup over the head of your newborn, or plop full glasses of water in front of your 3 year old. And if you ask for a half portion of something on the menu for your child, they figure out a way to make it happen. Or if you ask for some bread or the kids meals before the appetizers, they make it happen. This kind of thing is fairly standard in the usa and as a result I think you find that families eat out a lot more in things a bit more upmarket than pizza express. We certainly would eat out more with our 2 (2 and 4) if there was more available in our neighborhood.

By the way, we are in Acton and an upmarket cafe just closed on the high street...sign saying space is up for lease is up in the window. If you're interested in the area, let me know and I'll get the info.

stickynote · 22/02/2005 08:20

Yes, there are loads of very good restaurants in the South...and we can't afford to eat in any!

Good luck with your venture and make sure you advertise on MN. And when you own a successful chain of child friendly gourmet restaurants, please come and open one near me .

FineFigureFio · 22/02/2005 08:34

Where I live in Kent, there are NO child friendly places (apart from wacky warehouses) and when you have two kids (one with SN) no babysitter, it is a nightmare getting anything to eat. canterbury has lots of restraunts but no child friendly ones, and there are LOADS of kids

Got to say though i lived in Staffs before and I am not sure something like this would work, got to be honest. Most places let you take kids in. We took the kids to 4 star, michelin award places and never got turned away. Real posh gafs with kids sitting nicely.

Somewhere that came to mind was Ludlow. Has a great restraunt selection (lots of michelin stars) but nothing like this and I think it would do very wwll. Places like Shrewsbury aswell (shrops) or the Peaks. Matlock, Derbyshire is nice place. I suppose myou need somewhere that is going to be get tourism in the summer but also a busy stream of regulars, how about Chester?

FineFigureFio · 22/02/2005 08:35

or the Cotswolds?

FineFigureFio · 22/02/2005 08:38

and there is nothing worse than being turned away from a restraunt because you have kids, it makes me so mad We are the worst country for this and its just so annoying. I have found it even worse down here. We even got turned away from our local pub/restraunt, which we have been to LOADS odf times, because it was valentines saturday!!!! plus they have complained about the kids even if they are sitting nice

MancMum · 22/02/2005 09:22

I guess what I wold like out of a child freindly restaurant is somewhere where the food is of a standard I would want to eat on meal out without the kids and not burgers etc. I would like the kids meals to be nutritious and served on kids crockery and with kids cutlery with plastic lidded cups to prevent spills for younger kids... I would like to see the restaurant is safe for kids to wander round ie no staircases or unsafe balconies... a couple of good ones I have been to had a kids play area.... one had a big pile of colouring things and facepaints etc and another had a woman who sat at the side of the room with a huge creative kit and helped kids make hige pictures that they dried and brought over to us with our coffee -- I loved these 2 places and spent most of the weekend in them

Woodelf · 22/02/2005 15:06

Hi Collision,

I can only suggest the Croydon area as it is lively and buzzing with restaurants and clubs for every taste but very little that has nice food and a good atmosphere where children are welcomed. Lots of famililies live around the area and in summer have to make do with pubs with gardens but the food is pretty dire. Winter is really tricky unless you like MacDonalds YUK.

bakedpotato · 22/02/2005 15:11

no time to read all of this but OMG Oxford seemed, when we visited recently, in serious need of a few more decent restaurants.
if you're hungry, it's a wasteland... £7 for a unbelievable soggy faux 'crostini' lunch in a church crypt, and in the evening queued for 45 mins at an Ask Pizzeria, fgs.
everywhere we went, queues and queues of famished tourists, and unremarkable nosh.
it needs you!

ivy3 · 22/02/2005 15:23

Agree with Mancmum - Didsbury, Manchester would be ideal and is in real need of somewhere with good food that is child-friendly and is not a 'chain'.

Mancmum - the two restaurant you mentioned sound good, which are they and where?

cori · 22/02/2005 15:37

Hi,
Try www.daltonsbuisiness.com
Lots of restaruants/ cafes for sale all over the UK. Some of them have accommodation.
What type of food do you do?

bundle · 22/02/2005 15:39

i'd look where chains like giraffe are expanding to - ie reasonable food aimed at families. i know they're in london (islington is nearest to us) but they may be expanding.

bonym · 23/02/2005 14:30

Cardiff - definitely!!! Despite the fact it is rapidly expanding, we don't have any decent restaurants that are child-friendly (in fact, decent restaurants are still fairly thin on the ground full stop). It's a fantastic city now and although more expensive than a few years ago, not as bad as the South East. Because of all the expansion there are loads of premises available - Cardiff Bay has some good ones and would be ideal for the sort of place you're looking to open. Good choice of rental properties too.

Hausfrau · 23/02/2005 20:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chatee · 23/02/2005 20:49

blackpool-after visiting last week everything was with chips, nnnnoooooooooo.....

MancMum · 23/02/2005 21:11

ivy3 - jamfish in altrincham on a sunday lunch time was one - not been for ages but they used to have fab sunday lunch type food and loads of other european type foods with great kids food Ie proper pieces of chicken, fish, chunky chips etc and the woman doing crafts in the corner...might ring them up and see if they are still doing it as it was a great place -- kids well looked after, good food, sunday papers, leather sofas... I used to be dragged out...

the one with facepaints was felicini in didsbury - again just on a sunday but has since stopped since they did the restautant up and it went all trendy and cool...

Original poster
collision · 24/02/2005 10:55

Hausfrau, we are near Casole d'Elsa, Colle val d'Elsa and about 40mins from Siena.

OP posts:
LouBeeLou · 24/02/2005 12:28

Hi Collision - saw your note on the Harrogate thread.

There are a few pub/restaurants in the Hgte area with Wacky Warehouse-type play areas. The food is basic pub food, ok but mostly microwaved. My biggest problem with these places is the staff who are usually moody teens who obviously haven't been on the customer care training course!

I know of a couple of restaurants that are child-friendly, for example their is an italian where kids can put toppings on their own pizza then they cook it for you.

We have the usual chains Pizza Hut, etc, but not anywhere I would consider special.

There are loads of pubs/wine bars/cafes that are always re-opening under different names or closing down so you would probably find something suitable venue-wise.

As for renting, Harrogate is at the expensive end of the scale I think, but to me the area is a lovely place to live and bring up children. There are lots of parks and play areas and plenty of activites for kids.

Anyway hope this helps, CAT me if you want more details.

LBL x

northerner · 24/02/2005 13:19

Hi Collision. Just saw your note on the Harrogate thread. This is quite timely actually as my dh and his bro are talking about a similar thing as my dh is a chef too. OK - you asked where people go in H/gte with kids to eat. Well there is definatley nothing fine dining/special occassion ish but we have a fab Italian called Pinnochio's which is huge (about 350 covers) and done up to look like a theatre and the cahshier sits in pinnochio's house. It's very child friendly and popular for kids birthdays and stuff. As LouBeeLou said we have a wacky warehouse attached to a pub, and a TGI Friday's has just opened. There is also a posher burger type place called the damn yankee which is really geared for kids but all in all that is about it. When you say fine dining do you mean you are going for awards and stuff? Because there aren't any award winning restaurants in teh town centre. we've got The Clocktower restaurant within a Hotel called Rudding Park that is 3 AA Rosettes, and one called The Boars Head in a nearby village that also has 3 Rosettes, and a fairly new opening called the Box Tree again in a nearby village taht has 1 Michelin star, but certainly none of these are child friendly.

The cost of living in Harrogate is fairy expensive, but I guess it depends what you compre it too. To give you an example of rent my BIL has just relocated from London and he pays £2000 per month for a 4 bed detached family home. This is on the desirable side of town though - you can get cheaper.

It is a beautiful town to live in, very affluent and we get lots of visitors to teh town for bot leisure and conference. We are the UK's 3rd most popular conference destination behind London and Birmingham. Our International conf centre hosts many major congresses every year, during a town event nearly every restaurant is fully booked. All of the state schools are very good and we have a good selection of provate schools too.

Hope this helps. You can CAT me if you want to know anything else.

Do let us know how things develop.