A new pub and restaurant is promising to win over Altrincham with the quality of its customer service as it re-opens after a £200,000 refit.
The former home of The Faulkners Arms on Stamford New Road has a chequered recent past, particularly since Lounge Ceol closed down in December 2014.
But now owner Enterprise Inns has made a significant investment in the building, which backs on to Goose Green, through its Bermondsey Pub Company business.
The result is Tavern On The Green and ahead of its soft launch on Friday night, general manager Sam Foster believes that this time the venue is here to stay.
“We want to be Altrincham’s friendly local,” he says. “We’re going to be offering cocktails and a nice selection of craft beers, and we have a really good food offer.”
Indeed, it will become the first pub outside London to be a branded Pieminster pub, stocking 14 of the award-winning company’s pies. “We’re more of a pie restaurant that does craft beers,” says Foster.
Also on the menu will be salads and a range of traditional English snacks – think pickled eggs and pork scratchings. It’s the kind of classic pub snack offer that fits perfectly with the vintage, quirky feel inside.
Foster, who will be moving in to the flat above the pub this weekend, has previously worked for the likes of Revolution, Mitchells & Butlers and the Stonegate Pub Company. He’s joined by assistant Raz, and the pair have hired two full-time and six part-time staff.
For Foster, integration with the neighbouring Goose Green businesses is very important – “previously I think it has struggled with that”, he says.
He’s made a conscious decision not to subscribe to Sky initially, although the TVs will be showing the Euros and Olympics this summer. “I want to see what pub the people of Altrincham want it to be before we make any set decisions,” he adds.
“We want to win Altrincham over with the quality of the service. We’re not cheap by any means, but we’re not really expensive, but we would like to say that it’s more of an experience restaurant and the customer service has to go with that.
“The first thing that struck me when a came here was the number of closed units, but then I saw that actually, two thirds of them are having work done on them. There’s a cafe going in (where Barclays bank used to be), The Craftsman seems to be doing really well, and The Cheshire Tap is brilliant. That’s the kind of circuit we see ourselves on.”
Tavern On The Green opens to the public from Saturday at 12 noon.
More pictures from inside Tavern On The Green:
