Save our beloved local Middle Eastern Restaurant

Aim

Middle Eastern restaurant has stood since 2019 and as family and friends, we are attempting to raise capital to re-open this beloved venue.

It is heartbreaking to announce that our local, former-refugee-owned Middle Eastern restaurant has been forced to close.

For many years, the founder and manager of our friendly local Middle Eastern have stood undaunted by persecution, wars, displacement and adapting to establishing a new life in the UK. After moving to Colchester, he started up a small business from the ground up, providing delicious and healthy cuisine.

Similarly, for more than half a decade, his business stood, undaunted starting from the ground up as a local and small business, and survived the pandemic, providing fresh, delicious and homemade healthy food. In addition to this, the love and support received by the people of Colchester led to an inspiring success story that started as a street vendor on High Street for 2 days per week to become one of the best-rated restaurants in Colchester. Our beloved friend’s restaurant which stood for over half of a decade became not only a social hub for Middle Eastern communities to connect, but also a successful restaurant that got into official Recommended Restaurant on Restaurant Guru in 2021 and 2022.  

However, the lights are now turned out. Despite having the contractual right to 1-month notice, within 2 weeks of notice to quit, their electricity was forcefully cut, furniture was removed, and keys were demanded.

We are though faced with several further costs to bear. We do not know if landlords will stick to their word and go for an alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Similarly, we do not know if ADR will be constructive and provide a resolution.

With business normally at a peak during the festive period, our friend has been evicted at the one time that he would have been able to raise capital to support the business going forward. Instead, we are facing considerable Legal fees for litigation which will require funding. We are determined to support our friend and his local business to get fair compensation and raise awareness. However, like everything in life, everything has a cost.  

Having a small business requires hard work and has narrow margins and cash flow. It would be a tragedy to see this unique local restaurant and one of the very few former-refugee-owned businesses not given a chance to survive and forced to an agonizing goodbye.    

We fear, that without your support there is no road back for this beloved restaurant to survive and be born again. The venue and stories soaked into its walls will be lost. Unless our friend gets fair compensation for both emotional and property damage suffered, our local friend has no real prospect of restarting our small business. A proud crown jewel of Colchester’s “City of Sanctuary” will be snuffed out.

Gone will be a venue whose customers previously bragged about who had been coming the longest!

We are aware of the tough times that everyone going through and our friend is a professional who is good at their job and wants to continue serving great food and supporting fellow local businesses, but the odds without support are too high, so please, consider supporting our fundraiser. Every little helps.

Thank you for your time and much appreciated support.

This project successfully funded on 1st February 2024