Sadness as Desborough restaurant decides to close its doors

A Desborough restaurant which ‘lost its edge’ because of the impact of Covid lockdowns is set to close.

The R Inn Bar & Grill, part of the Ritz complex, announced it was shutting its doors this morning (Wednesday) after nine years of serving diners in the town.

The Station Road restaurant, which sold pies, burgers and pub classics, had moved from its intimate site to a larger space to help with social distancing during the Covid pandemic.

And owner Kris Malde said it never fully recovered – as well as seeing utility bills soar during the cost-of-living crisis.

He said: “When we moved from our small and intimate restaurant next door into the massive Ritz to assist with social distancing and reduce the risk of the disease spreading we lost our edge.

"The place is just too big and the ambience and atmosphere just isn’t there any more – neither is the custom.

"Together with all of this, our utility bills have increased more than four-fold. As an example, just our electric bill is now over £2,000 a month and as for the gas...don’t event ask.”

While the restaurant is closing the Ritz complex’s hotel, bar and events venue remains open.

And Kris said they are looking to expand – creating more job opportunities for local people.

He said: “Although it is with sadness that we are closing the restaurant it is with great pleasure that we can tell you that our bar will remain open, our taster nights will continue and our decades nights will all carry on as normal.

"The Ritz is still available to hire for private events, receptions and parties and we are looking to expand our very successful R Inn Hotel.

“So thank you all for your past custom and although we closing the R Inn Bar & Grill, the rest of the Ritz complex is still open and we are looking to expand even further.

"With the growth plans, there will also be more job opportunities for local people and we will make more announcements in the future.”