Second coming: MEATliquor to relocate flagship to Match Bar site
The group, known for its Dead Hippie burgers, innovative drinks, punky design and fun atmosphere, has secured the former Match Bar site on Margaret Street. The new location is only a few hundred metres away from the original MEATliquor restaurant on Wellbeck Street.
The new restaurant will have a capacity of 300 and feature live music and DJs. It will also have a late license with a separate entrance and exit after 11pm, a nod to the early days of the operation when it ran #Meateasy above The Goldsmiths Tavern on New Cross Road.
Co-founder Scott Collins describes the new restaurant as "bigger, later and badder" than the original, and says he is aiming to have it open by Easter.
The company announced last year that its original London restaurant, located beneath a car park, was to close after nearly eight years to make way for a luxury hotel. The restaurant was only intended to be in operation at the site for two years but had its license extended on a number of occasions.
The restaurant officially closes on Saturday 9 February.
At the time, Collins had said that he was looking for an alternative site nearby.
In an Instagram post, Collins described the Match Bar site as ‘the second coming’ for MEATliquor W1, with a picture of the gutted interior and the words ‘it’s gonna take a bit of work’.
Match Bar was at one point a late night London institution, formerly owned by bar entrepreneur turned street food champion Jonathan Downey. Downey sold the West End location in 2011.
Last month the company closed its MEATliquor Brixton restaurant after five years at the Market Row site in south London. It is also looking to relocate it, and says it is “actively looking for another site”.
