A bid for a Korean barbecue restaurant in Reading town centre to become a late-night bar has been decided.
The AKA BBQ Station has been in St Mary’s Butts since December 2023, serving up noodle dishes, sushi, Korean rolls, traditional curries and meats that people can cook themselves using hot plates.
It currently closes at 11pm each night, with alcohol sales until 10.30pm.
The restaurant came under new ownership three months ago and now operates a dark kitchen, with a sign for the Chillim food business being added to the shopfront.
The business applied to sell food, drinks and alcohol and stay open until 2.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, 1am on Thursdays and midnight the rest of the week.
But the BBQ Station got in trouble with Reading Borough Council and Thames Valley Police (TVP) licensing officers following inspections.
During an inspection on Thursday, November 6, officers found stacked ladders obstructing a fire exit, expired fire extinguishers scattered in the staff areas, and a business partner smoking shisha without permission.
A council meeting was called to determine the application.
Bill Donne, representing BBQ Station, stated the owners want to turn it into a successful bar to serve customers later at night.
He said: “Here we have a rather small place. Essentially, it’s a restaurant; it always has been a restaurant. Pizza Express went through difficulties and offloaded unprofitable sites.”
Pizza Express closed in August 2020. In the intervening period, the restaurant became Smokin’ Buns and Saucy Chicks, which lasted just months before closing in January 2022.
Mr Donne stated that BBQ Station wants to operate in a similar fashion to Coconut Bar & Kitchen.
He said: “11pm is considerably earlier than most restaurants used to be licensed to, and the market has changed. They want to run a convenient establishment, with a restaurant until 10.30-11pm, then a bar, similar to Coconut.”
But police licensing officer PC Declan Smyth clashed with the business, arguing they failed to do due diligence.
After the inspection this month, the manager, Prajay Shrestha, stated he felt “intimidated” by the three officers taking part.
Mr Donne stated improvements have been made, and that licensing papers that were misplaced during the inspection were found later that day.
Mr Shrestha had experience working at Travelodge, answering that he will be “more confident” in future inspections.
PC Smyth argued that another venue closing at 2.30am added to the ‘high risk’ of an area where crime is rising.
He said: “St Mary’s Butts, regretably, is the number one hotspot for crime in the town centre. Since September, it is the only one that has seen a rise in crime and disorder.
“There have been some worryingly serious incidents that have happened a stone’s throw from BBQ Station.”
In a particularly alarming case, four men were arrested for attempted murder following an alleged incident on Sunday, August 10.
He suggested that BBQ Station should close at 1am instead.
PC Smyth: “For a restaurant closing at 1am, the risk goes down.
“We’re quite adamant that 1am is adequate for this style of premises. If they successfully operate, they can show a history and due diligence, then apply for later hours 12-18 months down the line.
“For an application such as this, we expect not just due diligence, we expect them to be a beacon of best practice.
“They failed, we don’t have the confidence they will be able to comply. 1am is our compromise, I think it’s a good compromise.”
Ultimately, councillors chose to grant the licence with closure at 2am rather than 2.30am at the licensing applications sub-committee meeting on Friday, November 28.
The decision was made by councillors Amjad Tarar (Labour, Battle), Glenn Dennis (Labour, Kentwood) and Louise Keane (Green, Katesgrove).
Two door staff must be present on Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm until closure, which is earlier than Mr Donne’s suggestion that they should start at 10pm.
