A popular York café has announced plans to open a second ‘destination’ location.
The Old York Tea Room on Goodramgate has become a beloved staple in the city since their opening in 2023.
Now, they’ve announced on social media that they have plans to create ‘something truly special, elegant and timeless’ in a new location in York.
The tearoom is owned by Tony and Thomas Vickers. The Old York Tea Room is their first business together, however between them they have over 20 years of hospitality and retail management experience.
The Goodramgate tearoom has been a hit with locals and tourists alike, with visitors from all over the world.
“We’ve got lots of followers from Australia, US, Canada, lots from Europe,” Thomas told YorkMix. “Having regular guests from Canada or the Netherlands, who’ve visited us once or twice a year since we’ve opened, which is just incredible.
“As a Yorkshire lad would say, ‘I’m chuffed to bits!'”
The wide-reaching audience is something that Tony and Thomas never anticipated. “Far from it,” said Tony. “When we first opened, Thomas had ideas of working in the tea room on his own – we quickly realised on the first day of opening that wasn’t going to happen!”
Now Tony and Thomas are thinking ahead to expanding the Old York Tea Room into a new location. “I’ve always had something bigger in my mind to open, something grand,” said Thomas.
“I believe York deserves something exceptional, and not just for tourists but for the locals who live here and keep the city going.”
“We want to create a real statement in the city,” added Tony. “It’s just finding the right unit. We’ve been looking around and asking people online if they’ve got any suggestions of landlords or properties that are available.
“That’s the hard part – finding the right place. So we’re not in a mad rush to just jump into the first empty unit, we really want to find somewhere special.”
The new location would be serving up an elevated offering of what the Old York Tea Room already excel at, with a focus on traditional British cuisine.
“The bakes will be exceptional,” said Thomas. “We will have a range of cake, which will, at the moment, reach up to 50 different types of bakes in a day.
“There will definitely be afternoon tea, but the menu will extend as the premises will allow us to do a bit more in there.
“We want to concentrate on very fine British cuisine. It will be a quintessential British experience.”
The cakes however, will continue to be creative and experimental. “The skills Thomas has at baking and the European influence, it’s just so much better when you diversify what you’re offering. Every single day you’ll find something new on the counter.”
The Old York Tea Room on Goodramgate won’t be going anywhere though. “It’s beautiful, we will never give up this building. It’s a privilege to occupy the oldest overhanging house in the whole of England.”
Tony and Thomas are aware of some of the challenges that might be ahead with expanding the business. “To do this on a grander scale, it’s a huge investment for us – it’ll take a lot from us,” said Thomas.
“But ultimately it’d be worth it,” said Tony.
The duo are looking for a historic unit with a long-term lease, with – crucially – big windows.
“We need the windows because, to be very honest, I want to show off a little bit. I want to show people what we have to offer.”
Thomas states that after taking the sign off their building on Goodramgate, “we dropped massively with drawing people into the building. So that is the biggest minus, that the council don’t want to work with us.
“I am really upset still, but we did what we’ve been ordered to do – however, that doesn’t mean we give up.”
Since opening nearly three years ago, the Old York Tea Room has consistently received a lot of support on social media – and the announcement of their new venture was no different. “People are really excited about the idea,” said Tony.
“As soon as we posted online what our intention was, we had lots of private messages of people suggesting units that were empty. People really want to see something new – we’re getting a lot of support.”
The new bigger location will also create jobs too. “There’s no way that the two of us can do everything! We would very heavily be involved in both premises and split our time between the two, but we would have a new team around us as well.”
Tony and Thomas are encouraging landlords and the public to get in touch if they know of an empty unit in York. “Contact us on our Facebook page and we can have a chat!”
To keep up to date with the Old York Tea Room, visit their Facebook page here.
