‘Everything is closing down, we’re finished’ cry fans as family fave restaurant shuts another branch and just 10 remain

FANS of a family favourite restaurant chain have been left shocked after another venue abruptly shut its doors for good.

With little warning, Cafe Rouge has permanently closed its site at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth this month.

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The Portsmouth branch has been serving Parisian-inspired dishes, including beef bourguignon and steak frites, for years, and customers have been devastated by the closure.

Reacting to the news on Facebook, one Portsmouth local said: “Everything is closing down, we’re finished.

“Will the last one turn out the light?”

Another said: “I hope the staff all find work soon as they were all lovely.”

“Looks like we will have to find another place,” said a third fan of the chain.

However, all is not lost. Cafe Rouge’s owners have submitted a planning application to rebrand and refurbish the current site.

The Big Table Group has submitted plans to replace the signage at the site as it prepares to open a Banna Tree restaurant.

Founded over 30 years ago, Banana Tree is famous for its authentic, exotic and delicious street-food-inspired dishes.

The brand specialises in Thai, Singaporean, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Malaysian cuisine.

Banana Tree was born out of a single site in Maida Vale, London and currently operates in 19 locations around the UK.

The Big Table Group has already converted nine closed Cafe Rouge venues in Banana Tree sites in recent months.

This includes its Reigate, Hemley and Salford Queys sites.

In recent weeks Cafe Rouge has also pulled the shutters down on its branch at Brighton Marina on February 1.

It comes after Cafe Rouge closed its branch in Seamoor Road, Westbourne, Bournemouth, in December.

Cafe Rouge was founded in 1989 by Roger Myers and Karen Jones in Richmond, London.

As the brand grew, it was incorporated into the Pelican Group and by 1996, it was purchased by Whitbread.

In 2002, the brand was sold to Tragus Group, later renamed the Casual Dining Group, for £25million.

At its peak in the late Noughties, Cafe Rouge operated around 117 restaurants nationwide.

After signing an exclusive concessionary agreement with Center Parcs UK, the company added five new restaurants across the holiday parks by 2014.

However, the coronavirus pandemic had a devastating effect across vast areas of the UK economy, but few areas felt as hard an impact as the hospitality sector.

Restaurants, pubs, bars, cafes and leisure venues were forced to shut their doors in March 2020 when the virus first struck the UK.

As a result, the virus helped drive a raft of already troubled dining chains towards collapse.

Hundreds of restaurants and venues have shut their doors for good as firms have tumbled into administration and launched dramatic restructuring deals to keep them trading.

At the start of July 2020, Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge owner Casual Dining Group became a casualty of the crisis after it was forced to hire administrators and shut 91 restaurants with 1,909 job losses.

The group, which also operated Las Iguana, said it had to enter insolvency due to the “extreme operating environment” at the time.

At the end of July 2020, it was bought in a rescue deal by former TGI Friday owner Epiris, which saw the restaurant group rebranded as The Big Table.

The hospitality sector has struggled to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation.

Several chains have also been affected, resulting in brands like Wetherspoons closing branches.

Byron Burger fell into administration last year, resulting in the loss of over 200 jobs.

Italian dining chain Prezzo revealed plans to shut 46 restaurants due to soaring energy and food costs, leaving 810 jobs at risk.

TRG, which owns Wagamama, revealed that it would shut down around 40 sites by April this year.

Plans will see its entire leisure estate reduce from 116 sites to between 75 to 85.

So far, dozens of closures have taken place, including Frankie & Bennys, Chiquito and Firejacks sites.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk