Here’s a round up of what’s heading our way.
1. RIO, Low Row
It's been a long time coming, but work has finally started on Sunderland's much-anticipated RIO steakhouse. The internal works have started on transforming the former Halo bar in Low Row into the popular steakhouse, which offers unlimited cuts of meat and a salad bar. No opening date announced as yet, but the team has said they are "coming soon." | Sunderland Echo
2. My Delhi, Sunniside
My Delhi has announced it's relocating from its Borough Road restaurant which opened in 2022 to Sunniside in the old Frankie & Benny's site. The corner unit has stood empty since the American-themed chain closed in the city in 2019, but its new chapter is part of plans to improve the whole complex. The area is being rebranded as Sunniside Social, a new hospitality and leisure hub for the city, with My Delhi the first operator to be announced. | Sunderland Echo
3. The Vault Yard, Low Row
Another new addition heading to Low Row is The Vault Yard. The team from Theatre Leisure Ltd, who also own The Rabbit and Street Bar, are busy transforming this historic site, once home to Baroque and Establishment, into a new bar for the city. Work is being done by a team of local contractors to honour the heritage of the pub, which originally opened as a church hall in the early 1900s. Many of its Edwardian features are still intact and the team is making the most of them, unblocking original period windows that had been covered up for decades, and also utilising some of the old Baroque woodwork. | Sunderland Echo
4. Pepe's Piri Piri, corner of Fawcett Street
A former games lounge site in the city centre could soon reopen as a restaurant, after a national chain lodged a bid for signage. Sunderland City Council's planning department has received an advertising consent application for a building on the corner of Fawcett Street and High Street West. Planning documents submitted to council officials name restaurant chain Pepe's Piri Piri as the potential future occupier, a company specialising in freshly cooked chicken and also known for its brightly coloured shop fronts and branding. | Sunderland Echo