Bottomless brunch specialists All Bar One could soon replace Browns Brasserie and Bar in Newcastle – and stay open later every night.
The Grey Street eaterie Browns has been serving everything from breakfasts to afternoon teas and cocktails for the last seven years, but owner Mitchells and Butlers is looking to make changes.
That means Browns – part of the Mitchells & Butlers group of 1,700-plus UK venues including Miller & Carter, Harvester, Toby restaurants and Vintage Inns – will soon close to make way for a major refurbishment to convert it into its more relaxed brand, All Bar One.
This will become the firm’s 57th All Bar One and the first in the North East, and plans are under way to keep the bar and restaurant open longer.
A licence application has been made seeking to extend opening hours from from 8am to 12.30am Sundays to Thursdays and from 8am to 1.30am Fridays and Saturdays.
An opening date for the new All Bar One, which was first launched 25 years ago, has yet to be set – but owners Mitchells & Butlers want it to coincide with plans for its Miller and Carter in Moseley Street’s steakhouse restaurant, where it is seeking to reduce the hours for licensable activities and opening hours.
Live music could also be on the way to the venue, and the application asks for sale of alcohol to be permitted from 10am to midnight Sunday to Thursday and from 10am to 1am Saturdays and Sundays and any day preceding a Bank Holiday.
Notably, the firm is seeking to remove conditions from the premises licence requiring that it will operate primarily as a restaurant and that food will always remain as an ancillary part of the main use of the premises.
Additional conditions are also to be made regarding the minimum number of seats, changes to the operating style, the last admission time, provision of door staff – from 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays – and minimum alcohol pricing. Waiter/waitress service will also be available during opening hours.
This application comes in addition to three others, two of which relate to changing the signage at the front of the building and a third surrounding redecoration of the sliding sash windows.
The nearest All Bar One venues are currently in Harrogate and York and are popular for its bottomless brunches, lunches and cocktails.
A Mitchells & Butlers spokesman said: “We’re exploring the option of converting Browns Newcastle into an All Bar One, however at the moment nothing has been confirmed and the restaurant will continue to trade as normal.”
