Is it not the case as well that because the population of 'Barnsley' constitutes large areas of rural villages etc people are more likely to go to a country pub for a meal with inclusive parking than pay and park up in town to do the same? Certainly true of my family. Was the same when I lived in Huddersfield, lived there nearly 10 years and reckon I only ever ate out in the centre there once or twice, preferring country pubs and the like.
They're not shutting completely as such according to their Facebook page, but "evolving...by bringing a new concept to Barnsley". Interesting to see what they're gonna replace it with.
Apart from 10 years living abroad I've lived most of my life in the Barnsley area and I'm immensely proud of my town. That said, I must admit that for decent 'in town' eateries Barnsley woefully lags behind Wakefield and Huddersfield. The only saving grace is some of the pub/restaurants in the wider area are reasonable, with the pick being the 'Travellers' at Birdwell. There seems to be an issue with the psyche of some Barnsley folk who seem to value cheap and plenty over quality.
As someone who 'lives to eat' as my growing waistline will confirm, I find that there are quite a few decent places in the general area although the town centre is very average. We had 2 dreadful experiences at PInocchios about 20 years ago and vowed never to go back . We made the mistake of trying again a few years ago as we were in town shopping, were hungry, and lured by the fish/garlic smells wafting out of the place. Sadly we had exactly the same bad experience. Truly awful food and service was even worse. We were waiting almost an hour for the starters having to point out to the waitress two tables arriving after us (one 20 minutes after) were actually on their mains. One table walked out. Unforgivable given how many years the place has been going. Only after having moved to Italy did I realise how far removed from a real Italian restaurant it was. In fairness even the best ones around Barnsley bear little resemblance to the real thing in both terms of menu and VfM. Best Chinese we have had (although the decor is very dated and a bit gloomy) is Vissett cottage,out near Hemsworth. The seafood mixed starter is excellent and friendly Staff. Royal Spice at Darton is great value. Some swear by Curry Mahal but we prefer RS (Lamb Nawabi is my particular favourite and they will add extra chillis, as they will for any dish if you ask, as it is quite mild ) We have had a couple of good lunchtime experiences at the Spencers Arms at Cawthorne and also the Old Post Office (good steaks/steak sandwiches) at Haigh roundabout. Best value recently though was when we visited our daughter and her local is Pastures Lodge out near Mexborough,where I had one of the best fishermans pies I have ever had - large individual portion crammed full of fish& seafood, really well sauced and not made up as some are with mainly mashed potato on to. Good beer too and the manager knows his stuff. Again tjhough, none of these are Barnsley Central andall are all offering basically pub fare. I think you have to accept the clientelle is not there for any high end restaurant to survive in Barnsley as there is little else to attract people to Barnsley in an evening like Wakefield with Cinema complex, theatre and various music venues.
Mentioned earlier I lived in Huddersfield for 10 years, strongly disagree with this, I can't think of anywhere I'd be keen to get a meal in the centre. Might have a burger at Warehouse when out drinking.. Slug and lettuce for the half price deal maybe but I'd hardly call those "places to go to to eat out". Places like Harveys & Pax Burger on the outskirts are far better. Best place in the post code is Mumbai Spice.
There used to be a really nice Thai restaurant in the centre of Hudds. Cant remember what is was called but it was the upstairs of a cocktail bar.
Add Kitchen Bistro Tapas Bar, opposite the post office to the list too. Cracking food, ale and cocktails. I aint got shares in the place, but, it amazes me how few folk know about it. Has specials on too on matchdays. The couple who have Bailey's Cafe in the market own it, (which incidently is also good snap for a different clientele).
Latest food hygiene rating from Jan 2018 only gave it a 1 out of 5. http://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/en-GB/397309/The-Spencer-Arms-Cawthorne
Ouch!! I'll Let my daughters boss know as he often takes clients there. Not good business if they all come down with collywobbles !!
You missed taco bell... The problem is a number of those are in areas that attract certain demographics in society. The town centre population has changed with this so has peoples habits. The busiest train on a saturday is the mutton train taking everyone off to leeds when a few years ago it was in tarn instead. Either on piss or a meal washed down with a few overpriced cocktails.
The restaurant business is tough. Tens of restaurants close up and down the country every week: tens open too. I live a 5-10 minute drive from town but will drive 10 minutes to go to somewhere like the talbot inn at mapplewell or the tandoori hut for a meal. I don't know why i don't go into town more for a meal. I guess i associate town with drinking: it's my 'local', always has been. Someone said in a previous post that their family didn't want to go into town for a meal 'cos it's rough. Really? it's hardly downtown Kabul or Damascus is it? It's not even the Bronx or Kingston. It's not the 'slums' of Napoli either, nor the seedy backstreets of Amsterdam. In fact it's a parochial little town in yorkshire. It's a safe town, one of the safest places to live in the world.
Honestly, that story really stuck with me. Ended up deciding to get back to Leeds with my pals after the game when we'd intended to stay out in Tarn because of it.
I'd perhaps take these ratings with a pinch of salt (no pun intended!). Many years ago, I used to run a residential educational centre which was pretty much like running a hotel (but I also had to organise the educational courses which were free of charge). The local District Council came to inspect the place in order to issue one of these Food Hygiene Certificates, and was only going to give us 3 stars, I think. When I asked why, they said that the store room temperature was too high and two assistants hadn't been on an advanced catering course. The bottom line was that they (the Council) ran the catering courses (payable), and there was no statutory temperature set down for the storeroom. They were just using the rating system to bribe us to pay and send staff on their courses. In the end, we (a charity) got our 5 star rating. I stress this was quite a few years ago!
Awful yes but statistically things like this don't happen to many people. I walk home from town to monk bretton on a saturday night/sunday morning after sesh generally between 2 and 6 in the morning and never had any problems: never felt or fear i will be the victim of an assault. I'm probably more at risk of getting knocked down by a car.
It was always gonna be one of those novelty places that would struggle to get regular customers. I went once not long after it opened and I wasn’t blown away by it, there are far better places to go.