York bar wants to rebrand as a beer and pizza venue – or it could close

A landmark York bar and restaurant is looking to boost its fortunes with a rebrand.

The Missoula – Montana Bar & Grill opened on Bridge Street in 2014.

But if planners give permission, it will soon be reborn as the Tank & Paddle – one of a chain that specialises in craft beer and pizza.

Owners the Stonegate Pub Company have put in an application to install new signs, including a neon sign set behind the windows overlooking the river, as part of “a scheme to essentially rebrand, refresh and update the existing signage scheme on these premises”.

And the rebrand is needed to save the venue from closure, planning documents argue.

Bar could shut

In their application to the council, the owners state that the “commercial leisure market in general is suffering from the on-going effects of the economic recession, during the declining and continuing difficult economic climate, not helped by the economic uncertainties over ‘Brexit’, and the application site itself has suffered from lost revenue”.

The rebrand is “an attempt to attract more customers to the site to enhance the economic well-being of this existing commercial leisure facility”. The documents continue:

• If additional custom cannot be attracted to the site, there is a risk that the operators may consider shutting the property.

  The closure of this bar would have a far more detrimental impact upon the special historic significance, interest, character and appearance of these listed premises, the settings of the neighbouring heritage assets and the wider conservation area than the proposed replacement signage scheme.
  

Yard-long pizzas

The Tank & Paddle brand is currently restricted to a few venues in London.

The first was “built on the simple concept of pizza and beer but has grown into a social hub of regular pizza passionates and beer lovers,” according to the website.

They offer freshly made stone baked pizzas up to a yard long – the paddle – and Meantime brewery fresh tank beer – the tank.

Menus include the margherita pizza for £9 and a pepperoni pizza called Meat Your Match for £10. Mac and cheese is another popular dish.