Owner of popular Chesterfield restaurant excited to open “spectacular” new Derbyshire location next week

Chesters Restaurant and Takeaway on Sheffield Road has long been a favourite for hungry Chesterfield residents – and the business is now expanding.

Owner Chris Ioannides has confirmed that a new restaurant is launching on Tuesday, July 25. It is located at the Markham Vale services site at Junction 29A of the M1, opposite McDonald’s and adjacent to Starbucks.

He said the construction of the new restaurant had not been without its difficulties – but was excited to finally be able to welcome customers.

“It took a lot longer than we anticipated, due to unforeseen problems. Covid being one, and our bad luck seemed to roll from one thing to another. It was worrying times, especially in our trade. With the price of fish, oil and everything else, it has really tested us.

“At one point, with the price of gas and electricity, if we’d have opened the doors we probably would have gone bust very quickly. When it did finally come down, they refused to actually supply us, as they weren’t supplying new hospitality businesses. We finally had to go outside the box of using British Gas and Eon, and went with a smaller company called Positive Energy.

“It’s been a real battle to actually get the doors open, but we’ve finally done it. It looks spectacular, it looks really nice. Everyone who has worked on it has commented on how, out of all the shops and restaurants they’ve fitted out lately, it’s at the top of the list.”

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The new restaurant has created 20 new jobs, with Chris using this period to bring in staff and train them at the Chesters on Sheffield Road. The menu will also be the same as that on offer at the company’s original location

The Markham Vale branch will open from Monday to Saturday, between 11.00am and 9.00pm.