Bottomless gravy and £1 kids meals as historic Seaham pub reopens as a restaurant

A section of The Mill Inn in Stockton Road has opened its doors as a 50-seater restaurant and has retained the pub’s original name.

Dating back to the early 1800s, the Mill Inn has a long history in the town, including being the site of discussions that led to the formation of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers to improve safety in mines. The original inn has been much altered over the years, but remains on its original site.

Now, the Mill Inn Restaurant has been opened by Seaham businessman Matthew Lowery.

He took on the neighbouring Barn at the Mill site in July, helping to put it back on the map, running it as a family-friendly pub, with a host of events including creating a Winter Wonderland, which will return this Christmas with a bigger offering.

He said: “The Barn at the Mill has been growing rapidly. We started doing food in January, such as loaded fries and pizzas and it’s gone down so well, everyone loves the food.

“So when this site became available, I jumped at the chance, prompted by the success of the food to open a restaurant.

“This building has so much history in the town which is why it was important to me to keep the name. People have so many memories here, of their grandads drinking here.”

He added: “As well as the pizzas and loaded fries which have been popular, we’re doing proper North East pub grub like panackelty, mince & dumplings, a whole range of pies and Sunday dinners.”

Matthew has taken over a section of the pub, with the other side to open as a separate venture.

The Mill Inn Restaurant, which has created eight new jobs, opened over the Easter weekend and sold out of roast dinners on its first Sunday in business, doing 100 covers.

“I hadn’t really advertised we were opening, it was more word of mouth, but we had a really decent opening weekend,” said Matthew. “We didn’t expect to sell out of Sunday dinners on the first Sunday, but the fact we do bottomless gravy and unlimited veg is really popular.”

The venue is very family focussed and children can eat for a £1 with every adult meal ordered.

On Mondays, the restaurant is hosting an after school club to cater for the neighbouring schools. It runs from 3pm to 8pm every Monday and is priced £8.95 per person for all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta, as well as cordial and ice cream.

The Mill Inn Restaurant is open Thursday and Friday from 12pm to 8pm, Saturdays from 12pm to 9pm and Sundays from 12pm to 6pm.