Old city pub and gin bar closes doors
Watering hole could not survive ravages of lockdown
AHISTORIC city centre pub has announced it will not be reopening after a year of lockdown turmoil.
Victorian gin parlour and pub The Jekyll & Hyde, in Steelhouse Lane, has been closed since the last lockdown.
Part of the Bitters N’Twisted group, it had been one of the group’s four city centre venues along with The Victoria, Rose Villa Tavern and Bodega.
The bar, which opened in 2009, swiftly won rave reviews for its quirky Victorian pub setting with retro touches, including big sweet jars and an upstairs gin parlour, home to over 100 gins.
It also had an Alice in Wonderland themed courtyard, which helped make the bar one of the city’s original Instagrammable venues.
Although popular at the weekends,
it was also a regular weekday haunt for workers from nearby law and accountancy firms.
But in a statement this week a spokesman said: “Bitters N’Twisted Venues have taken the decision to focus more on the food-led side of the business moving forward.
“As such, The Jekyll & Hyde, despite being a lovely historic pub,
does not form part of the future strategy for the group, and the lease has been placed on the market. Enquiries of any interested parties should be directed via Fleurets.”
After hospitality restrictions were first lifted in May, the firm had said they would wait and see if more workers returned to the city centre before making any decision to reopen.
A spokesman for Bitters N’Twisted told the Post at the time: “With offices only half going back and the roadworks on Colmore Row, we’re going to wait and see for now before reopening Jekyll and Hyde.”
But it is understood Bitters’N Twisted owner Matt Scriven decided to permanently close earlier in the summer.
Since the start of lockdown in 2020, Mr Scriven has also closed his flagship venue, The Island Bar in Suffolk Street Queensway.
In a statement last summer, the bar posted: “It is with great sadness
and disappointment that we have decided to close the doors of Island Bar after nearly 14 years of cocktail fun and games. The reasons are obvious with the Covid-19 pandemic destroying most of our business. Sadly we don’t currently see any light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Bitters N’Twisted group is now gearing up to open its latest venture, Fillet Of Soul fish and chip shop, which replaces Buffalo & Rye on Bennetts Hill.
Mr Scriven told the Post: “It was a very sad decision to close Island Bar, but thankfully I was able to renegotiate my lease on the unit for Buffalo & Rye. The restaurant was too small to enforce social distancing as a restaurant but works perfectly as a takeaway.
“The concept is very much to offer traditional fish and chips – with the highest quality ingredients doing our national British dish proud.”
The eatery will open in early September.