Almost Famous: Readers react as burger chain joins growing list of Leeds restaurants closing for good
Yorkshire Evening Post readers have reacted as yet another restaurant in Leeds city centre shut for good this week.
Burger chain Almost Famous is the latest in a growing list of eateries Leeds has lost in the last few months - a list that includes Owt, Kino, Fuji Hiro, Iberica and Craig Rogan at The Collective.
While some readers admitted they had never heard of the Great George Street restaurant, many lamented the rapid decline of the city's high street.
Michael Taylor said: "I’m afraid there will be more to come. Business rents from landlords have gone through the roof, yet no one investigates this.
"Then there’s the other small business killer of NI contributions and minimum wages.
"My suppliers are already telling me they’re having to increase prices from between 6-9% and guess where that will be passed onto, the consumer, Joe Public, it’s not looking great unfortunately."
Cindy Sanderson added that the price of eating out has become too high, making it a luxury not many can afford.
She said: "So sad for the employees, but this is gonna get worse!
The cost to eat out now is ridiculous, even places like McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King, all charge just about £10 a meal - even fish and chips are £10+.
"We went for an Indian meal a couple of months ago, 4 of us, was £90 that’s a full week shop for some!"
Almost Famous announced the closure of all its UK restaurants on Monday (January 27). In a long statement on its website titled "This is Goodbye", the company stated that the current economic climate had become too challenging to overcome.
It added: "The lingering debt from Covid, rising costs across every aspect of the business, and a tightening in people’s ability to spend on dining out have created an impossible situation.
"Despite our best efforts, we are no longer able to continue.
"Ironically, while our venues remain busy and our reviews are glowing, the financial pressures stacked against us have made it impossible to sustain the business - making this scenario even more heart breaking."
Some readers were however not surprised to read of yet another restaurant closing, with Chris Marks writing: "Where is the ‘shock’? All but high-end expensive and dirt-cheap fast food will go bust in the current price gouging economic climate."