Shock as three Doncaster city centre restaurants all close on same weekend

Wowburger and Elephant & Castle in the Frenchgate shopping centre closed on Saturday with bosses at The Rustic Pizza Co in the Wool Market revealing the outlet’s closure on Sunday.

Burger bar Wowburger and American-themed restaurant and diner Elephant & Castle, who are both owned by the same Irish firm, shut up shop without warning.

Breaking the news via social media, one member of staff posted: “RIP E&C and Wowburger.

"Closed both this morning with immediate effect.”

"Heartbroken doesn’t even cut it. I don’t think I’ll ever quite get over it and all of the shock.”

Wowburger and Elephant & Castle are both owned by Irish hospitality group Press Up.

The burger bar was the chain’s first in the UK, opening its doors in the Frenchgate in 2020.

At the time of its launch, Susan Bell of Wowburger, said: “Our team are unbelievably excited to bring our fantastic burgers to the UK and we found that Frenchgate was the ideal place to launch the chain.

“We think that the Doncaster public will absolutely love Wowburger!”

Meanwhile, Elephant & Castle, which was also part of the Press Up group, only opened its doors in 2021.

Again, it was the firm's first UK outlet and ahead of its opening, a spokesman said: “We’re delighted to be opening our first ever UK Elephant & Castle location in Frenchgate.

“The founder and creator of Elephant & Castle, George Schwarz, lived in England himself during in WW2 and in fact named the restaurant after a London Tube station he passed on his morning commute to university.

“With over 30 years of success in Ireland, we have no doubt the good folk of Britain will absolutely love Elephant & Castle.”

We have approached Press Up for comment on both closures.

Meanwhile, The Rustic Pizza Co has blamed spiralling rent and electricty costs on the closure of its Wool Market outlet and follows the recent opening of its restaurant branch at Lakeside.

Announcing the news on social media, a spokesman said: “It’s with sadness we announce that as of 29 October, our Wool Market stall will close. A lot of you may think this is because of the Lakeside restaurant but unfortunately it is not.

"We would like to thank all our customers who visited us at the Wool Market - it was our first fixed venue and we have had an absolute blast over the last 4.5 years. We have met some amazing customers who have now become friends.”

Revealing details of a letter sent to the firm by market operators MAM, Rustic Pizza Co bosses say spiralling costs have forced the closure.

The statement added: “Because we had grown our business and were successful, they thought this was unfair that we should still be paying our agreed rent.

"We still had two and half years left on our current lease but MAM can end those leases with six months’ notice for no reason as written in the lease.

“We put an offer to MAM to cap the yearly rent at £40,000 but this was rejected and we were then served notice to leave in January 2024.

“£40,000 for a market stall that you have no control over when it can open or close? You need to ask permission to change any food on your menu or ask to what drinks you can sell - I think we can all agree this is way above market value and limiting trade restrictions enforced.

“Last week we also received a letter informing of an immediate increase in electrics costs from £0.25pto £0.39p per unit. Unless we increase our prices to greater than our restaurant which we are not willing to do, this makes the Wool Market unviable as a business.

"We wish all the traders in there all the success but for now we focus on our new venture.

“The biggest thank you goes out to #TeamRustic who over the years have worked so hard to help us build what we have today. Every Ssingle one you past and present we love you all and this has been one of the hardest weekends, but you have just got on with it as normal thank you all.”

The closures come after a recent spate of food and drink venues across the city closing their doors.

The Doncaster branch of Italian-themed eatery Frankie & Bennys announced it closure earlier this month, while Fish Market seafood restaurant Clam & Cork has also closed its doors.

The Big Smoke on Wood Street shut down in September, while the Agraah in Woodlands closed earlier this month, but has been taken over by new owners and is set to bounce back after a refurbishment.