This weekend is your last chance to get a drink at Samuels Bar.
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The Thirroul bar – next-door to Samuels Restaurant – is closing its doors on Sunday night.
The restaurant will remain open.
Ruth Russel-Smith, a co-owner of both venues, said bar takings had fallen as venues like The Headlands Hotel at Austinmer and Jose Jones and Gidgets Cafe and Bar in Thirroul began opening.
“I think it’s just the customers that we were getting, they’ve just spread themselves out a little bit more now,” Ms Russel-Smith said.
“The bar wasn’t running at a profit, in fact we were losing money.
“We do have the pub across the road but that’s never been a problem though. We’ve just had all these little bars open up and as they’ve opened our clientele has dropped off.”
Ms Russel-Smith said they were considering bringing across items from the bar, such as the craft beers and cocktails, into Samuels Restaurant.
But as for those regulars who are just after a drink, Ms Russel-Smith said the restaurant will look to cater for them.
“Out the front of the restaurant we’ve had some seats put in undercover,” she said.
“We’re going to put on a happy hour with cocktails and beer and canapes. That’s for people who are want to come in have a quick sit down and a drink, or even a pre-dinner drink.”
Once the bar closes the doors, the venue will become an Italian restaurant, run by a member of the family behind Balgownie’s Il Nido restaurant.
“He’s been wanting to do something out this way for a couple of years and when our property came up he jumped at it,” Ms Russel-Smith said.
“It’s going to be a family Italian restaurant – pizzas and your typical Italian food.”
Ms Russel-Smith said she wasn’t too concerned about leasing out the space next-door to Samuel’s to another restaurant.
“I guess it’s a little bit of a risk opening a restaurant next to a restaurant but we did think about it before we said yes,” she said.
“We’re a different type of restaurant, he’s a family restaurant while ours is a little bit more upmarket – there is a distinction between the two.”