The owner of one of the most popular country pubs in Wales has said the restaurant will be closing temporarily due to a dispute with the landlord, but will re-open in a new location soon.
Gareth Lee, who owns The Gate at Llanfrechfa, known for its Sunday lunches, steaks and seafood, reassured concerned customers on Wednesday that the restaurant was not experiencing financial difficulties, despite rumours online after it announced a sudden closure this week.
He told customers that everyone who had booked would be reimbursed if they wanted to be. Taking to social media on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Lee told customers that he was hopeful The Gate could re-open within days in a new venue. You can get more local news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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“Hopefully it will be open next weekend," he said. "Not this weekend, the weekend afterwards. We will let you know of the opening day and where the new venue is. Yesterday was a very emotional day and very hard. Thank you so much for the kind words. The main thing is gift cards; if you have them, feel free to keep hold of them and use them in our new venue, but if you want a refund you can have one. We have not gone into liquidation, we are not bankrupt. We have closed following a dispute with the landlord. We hope you will support us in the new venture, which will be with the same team. We are looking forward to serving you.”
Gareth and his wife Heather have run The Gate since 2017, and have transformed it into a steak and seafood restaurant. The menu changes daily depending on the fresh ingredients available.
Last year it was named among the UK’s top 50 pubs for Sunday lunch by OpenTable, using 1.2 million reviews by diners to create the list. It was the only place in Wales to make the list. It also won Best Restaurant 2021 at the Best of Welsh Business Awards, and featured on Come Dine With Me: The Professionals last summer.
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