Greek takeaway chain Taka Taka has won a battle to stay open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays in the Centre. The popular local chain faced opposition from Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council who claimed that staying open later could “increase crime”.
Taka Taka, which has three locations in Bristol, was only allowed to open to the public until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays in its restaurant on Broad Quay, although deliveries could carry on until 4am. But its owners said there was a high demand for their food after 2am.
The restaurant has been opening on a temporary basis since February until 4am, under ‘temporary event notices’. But the council’s licensing committee has now granted a change to its premises licence, making the later opening permanent — although only until 3am, not 4am.
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A large part of the city centre is covered by strict rules set by the council, called a cumulative impact policy. This makes it much harder for businesses to get new premises licences to sell alcohol or serve hot food late at night, as City Hall chiefs and the police believe that each new late-night premises adds to the chance of crime or anti-social behaviour taking place.
Philip Day, a solicitor representing Taka Taka, told a licensing hearing on Thursday, April 20, that the committee should make an exception to the cumulative impact rules and let the restaurant stay open later, because of how healthy and popular the food is. He claimed other nearby takeaways only offered less healthy chips, pizzas, burgers and kebabs.
He said: “I won’t pretend that you can’t get chips and so on in Taka Taka, but what you can also get in there — and what is extremely popular — is homemade Greek food, including moussaka, pastries and a whole variety of snacks and sweets, which is simply not available anywhere else.
“Having this different offering is very much in the public interest because it’s offering far healthier food. It does make it exceptional that they’re offering healthy options compared with the burgers and fries and pizzas that you can get across the road on the other side of Broad Quay. It’s the most successful takeaway brand in this city."
The first Taka Taka restaurant was in Corfu, which was a family business. But the chain in Bristol began with its first restaurant on the Clifton Triangle. It now has restaurants on Broad Quay and Bridewell Street, as well as in Bath, Birmingham and Bournemouth.
Miaris Stamatios, owner of Taka Taka, told the licensing hearing that he started the business due to the rising demand for gyros, a classic Greek kebab-like dish with meat, chips and salad wrapped in a pita bread. He also said the chain was popular with emergency service workers on night shifts, and was highly popular on delivery apps.
He said: “In the town centre of Bristol — God bless to the other businesses — everybody has fried burgers, fried burgers, fried burgers. We don’t do fried, we do grilled and we don’t have freezers. That’s why the people of Bristol make us the most successful brand. We are the number one brand on deliveries for the past four years, even beating McDonald’s.”
But the busiest time for the police also tends to be on a Friday and Saturday night in the city centre. The idea behind the cumulative impact policy is that each business open late at night will increase the chance of somebody committing a crime or anti-social behaviour. And if extra takeaways are open, people might stay in the area longer, rather than going home.
Sarah Bellamy, Avon and Somerset Police licensing officer, said: “My objections are based on the cumulative impact area. They’re in a very busy location in Broad Quay. At the moment we’re experiencing a lot of anti-social behaviour in that area, not necessarily linked to the premises, but just in the area in general.”
A council neighbourhood enforcement officer added: “There’s already a significant amount of late night eateries in the area. There are similar things being offered and perhaps they don’t bring anything new to the area. Allowing customers into the premises would keep customers in the area for longer, creating a slower dispersal, which could create more noise and anti-social behaviour.
“That’s why we have objected to the variation in the licence. Across the road you’ve got the M&M Kebabs and there’s pizzas as well. But you’ve also got [takeaways] on Corn Street, Baldwin Street, up Park Street. At that time of night, I don’t know what type of food people are looking for, I don't know if they're looking for healthier options at 2am or 3am.”
Despite the objections, councillors on the licensing committee voted to grant the later licence, so the restaurant can now stay open permanently on Fridays and Saturdays until 3am. They said they were not convinced by the arguments that the takeaway could increase crime and disorder.
