An empty York café could be set for a new lease of life.
A licensing application lodged with City of York Council proposes turning Gillygate’s vacant Osbornes@68 into a new restaurant and café.
Applicant Hera Social stated it would see the space turned into a high-quality venue serving a range of food and drinks inside and outdoors in a rear courtyard.
It comes after Osbornes@68 closed last August after nine years in Gillygate.
Owners Viv and Simon Osborne said they decided to close ahead of their retirement.
The owners said on Instagram: “It’s been an utter joy to welcome you all through our door’s each day, never knowing what each day would bring (one day it was a massive rabbit in a pushchair).
“We’ve had the pleasure of serving many fantastically loyal customers and made some great friends during our time on Gillygate.
“We however couldn’t have done this without our fantastic staff, so many thanks to you all.
We will miss the chats, the laughs and of course the dogs, hopefully our paths will cross again, but in the meantime we’ll say goodbye with heartfelt thanks.”
Hera Social stated their venue would operate from 8am to 11pm daily, and serve alcohol from 11am if its licensing application for the building is approved.
The venue has also applied to open until half past midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Customers would be asked to leave the rear courtyard by 9pm before it shuts at 9.30pm.
Hera Social stated: “This application is to licence a high-quality café and restaurant to serve a range of alcohol drinks ancillary to food consumption on the premises within the two rooms in the internal area and the rear courtyard seating area.”
The venue’s application is open for comments from the public until Friday, 12 June.
