Mark Hix confirms Soho restaurant closure
The restaurant will cease trading on 22 December, with Hix citing “rising rents and difficult market conditions” as the reasons behind the closure.
It was first reported in October that Hix was in talks to close his Soho restaurant, with The Telegraph saying the Brewer Street site could be taken on by contemporary Mexican chain Tortilla Republic.
“We’ve enjoyed a very good run in Soho, but sadly due to rising rents and difficult market conditions we aren’t able to find a way to carry on, a growing problem for restaurateurs across London,” says Hix on the closure.
“I can’t thank our loyal customers and hardworking staff enough, who’ve been the life and soul of HIX Soho.”
Hix opened his first solo site, HIX Oyster & Chop House, in Farringdon in 2008, which he continues to operate alongside chicken and steak restaurants Tramshed and Hixter Bankside in the capital; and his HIX Oyster and Fish House and HIX Townhouse sites in Lyme Regis.
He also operates a Mark’s Bar beneath his Hixter restaurant, and owns a subterranean art space below Tramshed.
Last year the chef restaurateur told BigHospitality’s sister site FoodSpark that he had ruled out opening any further restaurants in the capital due to its excessively high rents.
He said: “Soho landlords have almost doubled our rent and business rates.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult to operate and turn a profit.”
