Taco Bell coming to Toon
POLICE DROP OPPOSITION AFTER CUT TO LATE-NIGHT OPENING
TACO Bell has won the battle to open its first restaurant in Newcastle – despite fears it would increase city centre crime.
Northumbria Police had initially warned that allowing the Tex-Mex chain to open in Grainger Street would increase incidents of late-night noise, disorder and anti-social behaviour.
However, officers withdrew their objections just hours before a Newcastle City Council licensing panel was due to decide the former Poundworld site’s fate on Tuesday afternoon, after the restaurant operators agreed to bring its closing time forward from 1.30am to midnight.
That left only the city’s licensing authority objecting to the plan, with boss Jonathan Bryce ultimately unsuccessful in arguing that the Taco Bell will effectively “morph into a takeaway” after 11pm – posing problems for an area of the city centre already plagued by litter and drunken behaviour.
Lawyer Chris Grunert, representing Taco Bell, insisted that the site will operate primarily as a restaurant and that claims to the contrary were not based on any factual evidence.
He told the council’s licensing subcommittee that a similar Taco Bell in Leeds reports that 70% of its business comes from eat-in customers and that the busiest time for takeaways is lunchtime, not late at night.
Councillors agreed with the applicant that it would be a restaurant rather than a takeaway and granted a premises licence.
The site will be allowed to sell alcohol, but Mr Grunert said that the only booze available will be Sol beer and a “Twisted Freeze” – a slush drink with a shot of alcohol. No alcohol will be available to take away and only one drink will be served per meal, with the site offering Tex-Mex dishes such as tacos and quesadillas.
He said: “We are not challenging bars and pubs in Newcastle city centre. “Our experience across the premises that we operate, and I don’t predict Newcastle will be radically different, is that offering a warm, well-lit environment where you can sit and eat with friends and where there are door supervisors is attractive to customers.”
Mr Grunert added that the Grainger Street and Bigg Market area is already “vibrant and busy”, and that Taco Bell would not add to problems with noise or disorder.
Mr Bryce had said he was satisfied with the agreement Taco Bell had struck with the police over its alcohol sales, but argued that there should be a cut-off point of 11pm for takeaway food.
He showed the committee video footage of the city centre around midnight last Friday, which showed a large number of drunken revellers in the area including one woman being sick. Mr Grunert said that imposing an 11pm limit for takeaways would be “intolerable” for the business, “confusing” for customers, and cause queues of people waiting outside to get a table. Taco Bell, which will be operated in the North East by franchisee Northgate Fast Food Ltd, also won approval earlier this year to open another site near the Metrocentre.