Upmarket Newcastle 'greasy spoon' selling £5 chip butties shuts shop just six months in

An upmarket ‘greasy spoon’ cafe serving £5 chip butties has closed its door after its owners admitted “sometimes things just don’t work”.

The team behind Cafeteria has already hinted that a new eaterie could take its place, with bosses saying they are now considering ideas for a replacement.

Nick Grieves opened the restaurant six months ago, having been keen to launch a retro cafe catering to culinary tastes like jam on toast, pie and mash and chip butties.

Inspired by classic establishments of the 1950s and 1960s, Cafeteria served up simple home-cooked meals in a nostalgic setting, complete with paper napkin holders, Duralex white crockery and glass sugar pourers.

At the time Mr Grieves, who also runs Ophelia in Gosforth and The Patricia in Jesmond, said he had always wanted to run a cafe serving the classics, but acknowledged it was the opposite of anything he had created before.

Now he has announced the venue’s closure, revealing in a social media post: “It is with mixed emotions that we must announce the permanent closure of Cafeteria, yesterday was our last service.

"Unfortunately sometimes things just don’t work, we gave it a good shot but things never really came together and never really felt like ‘us’.

“It’s a tough time out there and unfortunately this is the best decision to make sure our business remains strong."

He added: "'£5 for a chip butty or cheese on toast is he insane?' Turns out maybe I was."

After posting news of the closure, Mr Grieves confirmed that all staff would be staying on with the company as he considers how to use the now empty space.

“The decision to close Cafeteria has definitely been a difficult one to make," he added. "But with the ongoing economic conditions, it was the only sensible thing for us to do to ensure we didn’t impact our main business.

“When we opened Cafeteria we wanted to try to do something different, but despite our best efforts, it wasn’t the right direction for us to go in.

"I’m happy to say all of the staff working at Cafeteria will be relocated to Ophelia. In the meantime, we’re having a rethink about how we best use the space and will announce a new direction for the site in the next few months."

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