Pintxos 44 Leeds: 'Classy' Cross Gates restaurant gets licence to serve alcohol until 1.30am

Pintxos 44, a wine and tapas venue, will open in the coming weeks on Austhorpe Road in Cross Gates. A local neighbourhood association and a nearby resident had objected the diner’s application for late-night booze and music licences, amid fears about a change in the residential “character” of the area.

But restaurant owner Naki Akarsu was granted the licences after a council hearing at Civic Hall on Tuesday. Mr Akarsu, who also owns the La Cantina 44 restaurant on the same road, promised a panel of three local councillors that there will “never be any nuisance”.

He said: “I’ve been in Cross Gates with my restaurant for 22 years. I’ve never had a problem and never caused any trouble along there. West Yorkshire Police have never called.

“It’s not going to be a nightclub. It’s a classy restaurant where people can come and enjoy good food.

“The type of customers we will have are not troublesome people. They’re middle-aged and they don’t want to fight or argue. They just want to enjoy their lives.”

Mr Akarsu said the venue would, in practice, rarely stay open until 1.30am. He said he’d applied for the licence to give him flexibility to host parties and wedding receptions on occasion, or serve alcohol later on New Year’s Eve.

He also said new customers would be stopped from coming onto the premises after 10pm.

However, local resident Steven Thompson, who’d objected, said: “I accept what Mr Akarsu says. But my concern is when customers leave the premises having consumed alcohol, they don’t simply leave quietly and may disturb local residents.

“Over a period of time, by drift, the character of Cross Gates could change from being a residential area to being a late-night food and drink area, to the detriment of local residents.”

The hearing was told that Mr Akarsu had initially applied for a licence until 2am, but this was cut to 1.30am at the request of the police. No other responsible authorities objected.

In their summing up, the panel of three councillors said that while they “recognised” the concerns of the objectors, they believed to Mr Akarsu to be “responsible and well-established” businessman, who could be trusted to minimise the impact of the licences.”