Memories of the North East: Taybarns
Taybarns was a chain of all you can eat buffet pubs which operated seven venues in the United Kingdom, two being in the North East. These two restaurants, one located in South Shields and the other in Gateshead next to the Metro Centre, proved to be immensely popular until they suddenly closed down in 2016 due to a rebranding by the owner.
Many people loved Taybarns pubs because they offered an all you can eat buffet of an immense variety, from Sunday Dinners, to curries, to burgers, sausages, ice cream, soft drinks as well as many more things. It represented outstanding value for money and as such was great for families.
However, the pub also divided opinions. While some people loved it, others turned their noses up at it citing a perceived lack of quality, hygiene or an association with “low income people”. As a strong example of these views, this was particularly relevant on the Sunderland Ready to Go (RTG) forum, which because of a culture of sneering amongst some users and a general theme of cynicism against everything, tended to have more critical views on Taybarns than the population in general.
This of course, led to an infamous incident on the website in 2017 where a user, known as “Heeed the Ball” claimed he had been to Taybarns in Gateshead when it had in fact closed a year previously. This led to ridicule on the forum, and several users trolling him using Taybarns avatars.
The demise of the pub was a branding decision, as well as perhaps a perception its structure was not profitable due to the amount people consumed. Its owners opted to promote a new brand instead, known as Brewer’s Fayre. Thus in 2016 all Taybarns pubs were rebranded to this restaurant chain. As of 2023, Brewer’s Fayre now operates 161 restaurants throughout Britain, but seemingly not its South Shields one anymore. However, it does own the pub on the Wessington Way in Sunderland.
If anything, Taybarns was a brief experiment in an attempt to establish a popular pub restaurant chain. As popular as it was, it seems it wasn’t what the owners wanted in the end, so they changed course.
