A winding up petition has been filed six months after the Longhorns closed its Jesmond restaurant
The future of trendy Newcastle restaurant Longhorns BBQ Smokehouse has been thrown into doubt after a petition to wind up the business was filed against it.
The petition was filed by Zara Commercial Limited, which is understood to be the landlord of Longhorns' former restaurant in Jesmond.
The branch closed in March at around the same time as the business lost a contract to serve food at five kitchens in Head of Steam pubs. After the closure, Longhorns was left with only one restaurant on Newcastle's Mosley Street.
Now, the future of business as a whole could be at risk after Zara filed the winding up petition, which will be heard at Newcastle County Court tomorrow.
The Journal has tried to contact managing director Paul Henzell but has not been able to speak to him. The restaurant was not open for business yesterday.
Longhorns has continued to be active on social media, with the business' official Facebook acount posting pictures of its food as recent;y as the weekend.
After the closure of the Jesmond restaurant, Mr Henzell said he was planning to restructure the business by opening small restaurants across Newcastle and serving food at events. He admitted that the Jesmond branch was too big and did not suit the style of dining the business offered customers.
At the time he said: "We have tested the market with Mosley Street and Jesmond. Jesmond was not as good as Mosley Street, which is why we are looking to concentrate on what we have done on Mosley Street and expand that."