A final decision has still not been made on the future of Darlington’s Estabulo restaurant, more than six months after the venue suddenly closed.
The chain’s restaurant at the DL1 complex in town has been closed since the start of the year, when bosses said they were carrying out a revamp of the space.
But just weeks later, the restaurant was stripped out inside and signs were taken down, leaving questions over whether it would be reopening at all.
Estabulo said in April that it was “still in the process of reviewing future plans and no final decision has yet been made regarding reopening”.
And, this week, the chain confirmed that a final decision was yet to be made regarding the reopening of the Darlington restaurant.
“We will be sure to provide an update as soon as any further information becomes available”, the spokesperson said.
As previously reported, speculation has been rife since January over whether the firm had decided to permanently shut its offering at DL1, where it has been since 2018.
The initial closure announcement came just hours after a previous statement said the venue “can’t wait” to welcome back customers the following day.
A spokesperson previously told The Echo that it “deeply regrets the timing and any disruption this may have caused”.
But Estabulo, which also has locations in Durham and Leeds, has continued to reiterate that this was a “planned refurbishment”.
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As things stand, no changes appear to have been made to the exterior or interior since the signs were removed.
The uncertainty follows several closures at DL1 in recent years, including coffee shop Mango Bean, Prezzo, The Chinese Buffet, and Tomahawk Steakhouse.
Next month, Bella Italia will join the list of closed chains, leaving more than half of the units at the landmark regeneration complex empty.
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