York diner makes meaty £150k investment with new Darlington restaurant

Husband and wife restaurateurs Jon and Sarah Rowlands have opened an authentic new American diner in Darlington.

The opening of Huckleberry’s Diner on Parkgate, Darlington, marks the third restaurant venture for Jon and Sarah.

The husband and wife team opened their first restaurant in Flaxton, York, in 2012, followed by a second in Leeds last year.

The original Flaxton-based restaurant is known for being Britain’s first Man v Food diner and its food challenges have featured on numerous TV programmes.

The new Huckleberry’s in Darlington is offering some of the original challenges from the Flaxton establishment plus new exclusive challenges specially designed for North East customers.

Huckleberry’s has capacity for 120 diners and the opening of the restaurant has created 24 new jobs ranging from head chef to servers and barstaff.

The owners have invested over £150k in revamping the site, which was formerly the Cricketers Arms public house and hotel. Further plans are in placeto develop the upstairs of the property to feature function rooms.

Sarah Rowlands, co-founder and co-owner of Huckleberry’s, said: “We’re thrilled to be opening up our third restaurant in four years and hope the people of Darlington and surrounding areas have the appetite to tackle the fantastic menu and authentic American experience we have in store for them.

“We’ve had our sights set on the North East for some time and Darlington is really on the rise. As there is nothing else quite like it in the area, it presented the perfect place for us to open our first diner in the region. Our reputation is built on quality and quantity and for those with huge appetites I can guarantee that as the UKs original Man v Food restaurant, our challenges are seriously meaty!”