Friends and business partners David Wright and Chris Burn have shared their passion for Mexican food and opened Newcastle’s first burrito bar.
The opening of Zapatista Burrito Bar in Ridley Place has created 12 jobs. They are hoping to gain custom from local shoppers and students.
Mr Burn said: “After seeing similar burrito bars in other locations we decided to do some research and see if it was something that we could recreate in Newcastle.
“After a lot of research we decided to take the plunge and started to look for premises. Ridley Place was the first site that we looked at but it needed a lot of work doing.
“We looked around the region and there were other sites but we kept coming back to Ridley Place, so we decided to take the challenge of this location on.”
The building needed a lot of renovations including building an extension and a total refurbishment of its three floors before they could even consider moving in.
The burritos are hand made by Zapatista’s staff to each customer’s exact specification. The burrito bar also has hot drinks and spicy Mexican soups on the menu and diners can sit in or take away their food.
“We have loads of ideas for the future, like extending our opening hours and creating breakfast burritos for students on their way to university or college and city centre workers,” said Mr Burn. “We now also offer the venue for private parties and live music for parties up to 100 people. We are on target in terms of turnover and sales and we have had excellent feedback so far.”
David and Chris worked with Newcastle solicitors Gordon Brown Law Firm LLP to arrange the lease once they decided on the Ridley Place property.
Solicitor James McEwen from the firm said: “Dave and Chris are new clients to Gordon Brown Law Firm. We assisted them with the terms of lease on the new premises.
“Zapatista is a unique fast food restaurant in the North East and is already showing signs to be a great success. I wish them every success for the future.”
Mr Burn said: “We had great support from Gordon Brown Law Firm and James McEwen in particular. Their support made the process a lot smoother for us.”