Hickory's Telford restaurant opens for bookings after confirming new opening date
A hotly-anticipated new Telford restaurant has announced its opening date - and has already started taking bookings nearly a month in advance.
The company, which already has a restaurant in Shrewsbury, announced it would be opening a restaurant in Telford in February this year.
Over the past six months Hickory's has been working on changes to The Priorslee Pub, formerly known as the Prior's Lodge, part of a project to accommodate the new venue which it says will create around 100 jobs in the town.
Now, with renovations nearing their scheduled completion, the firm has opened up its online booking system ahead of an opening date in September.
The company says it's now taking reservations ahead of a planned opening date on Monday, September 15.
"Thank you for all your support, we can't wait to open our doors and welcome you all to Hickory's Telford," said a spokesperson for the company.
The company received planning permission for a number of changes to the former pub premises in May, which it said would make the "relatively dated" pub "more functional for the Hickory's brand".
A two-storey extension is currently being constructed on the front and side of the building to create a cellar, extended bar area, store and extra table space.
The firm also applied for a licence to show movies at the venue earlier this year, which it said would allow it to show classic children's films to entertain younger visitors and families.
Greene King backed Hickory’s opened six new sites in 2024 to expand to 26 locations, as part of a £25 million investment from the 2,600-site-strong pub business since the acquisition.
The company says it will continue to invest heavily to open 10 new sites a year until at least 2027, with plans to triple the size of the chain by 2030.
The plans will include a £1 million investment at its original restaurant in Chester, where the firm was founded in 2010.
A statement from Hickory's issued along with the announcement of the firm's plans in February said they had received a "warm Shropshire welcome" at their other venue in Shrewsbury, adding that they planned to be in Telford for "many years to come".
"We are delighted to be coming to Telford – it’s a new area for us but an area that has been on our radar for some time now," said a spokesperson.
"We are so happy to be finally planning our first restaurant in the town and second in the wonderful county of Shropshire.
"Our new Telford home is also just over the border from our hugely popular smokehouse in Wall Heath, so we know a lot of our regular guests will be pleased to be able to get their BBQ fix a bit closer to home.
"We’ll be spending time getting to know the local area and our ambition is to create something truly special."
