New tenants at The Dolphin, on Osborne Road South in St Denys, are hoping to reopen the pub by June 23.
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Work to spruce up the pub, which closed in May, seems well underway, with shiny floorboards and music memorabilia being put on display.
Damian Etherington said he and partner Corrine would keep it as music-themed pub.
But there will also be a food focus.
“We’ve got a couple of steak houses up north so we know the concept works up there. The idea is not to have a restaurant here but to have a pub/restaurant. Keep the pool table. Keep the jukebox, and make it into a fun place to be.”
As well as steak and chicken, he said his other outlets also serve exotic meats, such as zebra and kangaroo, and they’d be trying those on the menu to see how it goes. There will also be more traditional Sunday roasts and vegetarian choices.
Some £20,000 is being spent on the garden, which will include new grass, patio and stage area, “so everyone, even the brewery [Ei, formerly Enterprise], are doing everything they can”.
The garden is likely to be ready a little after the pub.
Real ale-wise, Damian said that they would hope to start off with five choices to “see how it goes” – with one aim being to keep pricing “very competitive”.