Bistro’s closure only year after £200k refurb

A bar and restaurant in Congleton closed suddenly last week, Bench Bistro Bar on Lawton Street shutting its doors just over a year after its opening.
A Facebook post from the venue said: “Some things in life work and some things don’t. Unfortunately Bench wasn’t meant for Congleton. We are closing its doors with immediate effect.”
Bench took over the former Young Pretender, which was bought by Punch Pubs after its owner wen into administration.
The Young Pretender building was bought by Punch Pubs in January 2024. Five months later the bar opened with publicans Richard and Verity Shaw taking on their second Punch venue after running a successful bar and bistro in Nantwich.
An investment of £200,000 saw the former Young Pretender go through “a complete transformation” and Punch said guests would be “bedazzled by the Bench Bistro’s bright and colourful interior coupled with multiple archways adorning bold flowers and foliage”.
Distinct to its brand, the venue boasted its own “unique quirks” from garden gnomes and hummingbirds to a pick ‘n’ mix station. Every food item on the menu at the Bench Bistro was delivered on a signature picnic bench, an eccentricity that the Shaws said had helped to “greatly improve efficiency”.
Reviews of the bistro were largely positive.
One recent post on TripAdvisor said: “Twice I have visited in the summer holidays with my family, and the lunch was just perfect both times, The food was fantastic, cocktails were amazing. I could have drank loads more. The service was brilliant and all the staff were welcoming and friendly.”
Another said: “Amazing service, beautiful food. The staff were all wonderful and always smiling, nothing was too much trouble on a very busy Saturday. We can’t wait to return with all the family.”
But one said: “A nice atmosphere, LED lights, fake flowers, glass art and the running theme of bright colours. The music although was very loud, and it was hard to hold a conversation without being interrupted by a loud voice or worse, a beat drop.
“Looking at the menu nothing really tickled my fancy, I had bruschetta bread, chunky chips and beef teriyaki. The teriyaki was full of fat and quite hard to chew. The bruschetta was too salty, but the chips were just right.”
There were other complaints about the food.
On TripAdvisor comment said: “The food was overpriced, bought-in and poor. Nothing like the food portrayed in the publicity with tempting offerings piled onto little benches.”
A reader who contacted the “Chronicle”, while conceding the food at Bench was “very average and on one occasion awful”, said: “There seems to have been an influx of chain outlets in Congleton recently, from KFC to Orso, and we should support the more local venues.
“Bench could be hit and miss with its food – which in a small town you just can’t do – but it was quirky and interesting. They clearly got something wrong – I was in the Wonky Pear over the weekend and it was heaving”.
(Photos: Bench / Punch).