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7 St. Marks Hill
OMG - Do we REALLY want ANOTHER chain restaurant opening in Surbiton?
Wandered across the road from the Coronation today, attracted by a new notice on the long-drawn-down shutters of St. Mark's Tavern. NO, No, no! Surely not? PIZZA EXPRESS! Along with a drinks License till 00:00, closing at 00:30.
I fear this will be the final straw in Surbiton loosing it's uniqueness, and adopting the same predicatable, drab, globalisated nature of most Surrey town's/village's highstreets.
Comments
Stop moaning... It's better than the Rat & Parrott!!
I agree with a lot of the responses so far. It's a fair sized premises and in the current climate I wouldn't have thought that an independent would be able to afford the gamble, so that leaves it to a chain with the finance behind them..... Which is better than it remaining boarded up! If it remains boarded up for much longer I wonder if we'd see a repeat of Raven's Ait-gate!? LOL!
I will most likely use Pizza Express, they're not THAT bad IMO.
What I'd rather have seen is that American Deli chain (can't remember their name) that have a big store on Kensington High St.
Thank god were getting a good restaurant. At least its not a boarded up empty space... Plus Surbiton wants to be up to date - with the ugly ideas for Surbiton station so this fits in.
There are plenty of other smaller chains that would be great in Surbiton - Belgos, Bodeans etc, but I guess that thay have a few more fashionable places to expand into before they get to us!
It's just what we need to bring the standard up a little. I'm sick to death of estate agents, hair dressers, charity shops(Although i do love them), coffee shops and other waste of space establishments opening up in Surbiton.
Nothing drab about it, we move with the times and besides Surbiton has its fair share of independent restaurants so we all have a choice.
OMG - Yes, we do. Better than an empty pub, which also would have had a license that allowed it to open until 00.00, if not later.
Losing what uniqueness? There's a Zizzi, McDonalds (which is now EVIL and must be CLOSED) Boots, Starbucks, Neros, M&Co, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Flight Centre, Wetherspoons...
The town center is hardly indie shop central. It's better than another s***hole bar, or it remaining boarded up.
Exactly right. It would be lovely to have Surbiton as some sort of 'butcher, baker, candlestick maker' idyll, but this will never happen.
The fact is that Victoria Road/St Marks Hill is scruffy and unloved and a corporate like Pizza Express has got the money to come in and improve that. If there is an independent with the money to do the same in this climate then great, but I doubt there would be one who would want a space that big.
Anyone who has lived in Surbiton for while will realise that this type of development has only improved the town centre. Before Waitrose opened there was the most dilapidated branch of B&Q you have ever seen, before Bosco there was the hideous old BHF HQ, and (whisper it!) even Wetherspoons is a great improvement on what was there previously.
I am not a particular Pizza Express fan, and I doubt I will ever go in, but it will look better than the boarded-up pub on my way to the station in the morning!