The outdoor food and drink venue have sadly announced that they will be closing their doors permanently as of next week.
One of Leeds’ most talked about open-air bar concepts has just announced that they are sadly closing down.
The team have said that due to the cost of living crisis, the business is no longer sustainable to run.
Their last day trading will be on Sunday 6 August, but after that Chow Down will be departing from Temple Arches.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
The Temple Arches venue served punters of Leeds fantastic food and drink throughout the seasons, and we are absolutely heartbroken to see it go.
Many will remember the fantastically chaotic drag brunches, the delicious array of food on offer and look back on nights watching the sun go down through the arches with fond memories.
A statement from the Chow Down team read: "It’s with very heavy hearts we announce Chow Down will be closing its doors for summer on Sunday 6th August and departing from Temple Arches.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
"What started out as a 10 week pop-up in response to the Covid restrictions of summer 2020, morphed into a three year successful residency and became a key event destination in Leeds. However, unfortunately after being impacted by the cost of living crisis, changing consumer behaviour for food and drink offerings and increases in all costs involved with running a temporary site, the business is sadly not sustainable to continue in its current format.
"We have achieved so many things at the current site, including helping to support the regeneration of the Temple district alongside our partners and site developer CEG, who we are hugely grateful to for giving us the opportunity to launch Chow Down and hope to work together again on fresh concepts for Temple Arches in the future."
Image: The Hoot Leeds
The statement continued: "While this is the end of Chow Down in its current guise, we are exploring new city centre opportunities and aim to relaunch a new concept in Leeds in the near future.
"We would like to say a huge thank you to our team, traders, DJs, performers, contractors, and most importantly our lovely loyal customers for supporting us. It would mean the world to us if you could join us for the last ever two weekends at Temple Arches for a final cocktail, beer, dance and some top notch scran. Chow for now, CD team xx"
A new cocktail bar is coming to Leeds city centre.
If you know a thing or two about cocktails, or just drinks in general, then you're going to be very excited about this news.
The very talented team behind Roland's on Call Lane and The Domino Club, just to name a few, are setting their sites on a brand-new venture.
Introducing Paper Plane, an intimate new cocktail bar that will be taking over the old Casa site in the city's beautiful Grand Arcade.
Paper Plane will be inspired by the glamour of 1970s air travel and will be a vinyl-only listening bar, serving a world-inspired cocktail menu alongside a carefully curated whisky collection.
The space will be lovely and intimate, with around just 40 covers, designed to transport guests somewhere completely different from the minute they step foot through the door.
And what a location too, joining a whole host of fantastic independents in the arcade such as Alfonso's Deli, Stuzzi and Sonder.
For now, we don't know many more details about the project, but we already know it's going to be exceptional cas anything these guys do turns to gold.
Not only has Roland's been consistently one of the busiest bars on Call Lane since they opened back in 2014, but The Domino Club was recently crowned one of the best cocktail bars in the world. Now that is some accolade worth shouting about.
We'll keep you updated with Paper Plane's progress, but Roland's have stated that the site is hoping to open this coming autumn. So we really don't have long to wait.
Big name restaurant closes Leeds city centre site after seven years
Clementine Hall
A popular restaurant chain has closed permanently in Leeds city centre.
Popular pizzeria Franco Manca has closed its Leeds restaurant.
The chain was famed for its relaxed atmosphere, quick service and affordable sourdough Neapolitan pizzas that were on offer for as little as a fiver.
The chain occupied the site on the outskirts of Trinity Shopping Centre on Trinity Street, next door to Itsu and overlooking the back entrance of Marks and Spencer.
Hoardings have now gone up, signifying the site is now empty and Franco Manca has permanently closed.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
This can also be seen on Google when searching for the restaurant branch.
It was announced earlier this year that a number of Franco Manca's restaurants would be closing across the country.
This was down to a reconstructing plan approved by creditors for the chain. The brand said it had been knocked by “disproportionately high” UK taxes and a lack of business rates relief for hospitality.
Marcel Khan, chief executive of parent firm Fulham Shore, said at the time: “We are grateful for the support shown by our creditors today.
“Franco Manca is a fantastic brand with a strong heritage and loyal customer base. With this agreement in place, we will put the business back on a firm footing and press ahead with strengthening our customer offer and performance.”
The Leeds brand was not included in the initial list of restaurant closing, but it seems further closures were made.
Clementine Hall -
27th July 2023 
