Yahoo News Plush new Plymouth cocktail bar aims to be city centre's prettiest after £250k investment
A new late-night cocktail bar will soon open after a £250,000 investment - with an ambition to be the most attractive in Plymouth city centre. The finishing touches are being put to the Buddha Bar, upstairs from the newly-opened Olive and Twist eatery in Old Town Street.
The first-floor bar, which will have its own entrance, will continue serving until 1am at weekends, after the downstairs area has closed. It will also host private functions and bookings are already coming in.
It can be hired for £150 during weekends, but will be available for free in the daytime during the week. Dan Walls, who has now opened two Olive and Twist venues with wife Kim, said: “We want it to be the prettiest bar in Plymouth. We already have hen parties and baby shower bookings, lots of private events.
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“But people can also use this space for free. It’s so beautiful it’s a shame to be empty, so people can use it for whatever, from business meetings to yoga classes.”
Mr Walls got the idea for the Buddha Bar after seeing similar venues abroad. He said: “I got the idea from travelling around, Buddha bars are classy bars, there are a lot of them in major cities, in places like Ibiza and Dubai.”
The Buddha Bar will open on July 5, just over a month after Olive and Twist started trading. The venue is an expansion from the original Olive and Twist outlet in Plympton’s Ridgeway.
That opened two years ago and has proved a smash hit with its food menu, wine selection and cocktails. The concept of being a coffee shop by day, and transforming into a restaurant and cocktail bar later on has worked and is being replicated in the new venue.
Mr Walls said: “It has exactly the same menu as in the Ridgeway. We are known for our sharing board and wine. And we will be having live singers performing every Friday at 9pm, like we do at the Ridgway, where it gets really busy. But we also want people to see us as a coffee shop during the day.”
Mr Walls has taken a 10-year lease from landlord British Land on what was once a Thomas Cook travel agency. The entire building has been transformed with walls and a suspended ceiling - and even a safe - removed.
A central supporting pillar has been turned into an indoor “tree”, and there are attractive coloured lights and lots of plants. Even the toilets are eye-catching. In total the refit has cost close to £250,000.
The ground floor now has 55 covers, and there will be up to 40 outside when work to revamp Old Town Street is completed. Mr Walls said: “We will have tables and chairs outside to make the area a bit more Continental, with al fresco dining and a wine bar on the high street, giving it a Barbican feel.
“This is double the size of the place in Plympton,” said Mr Walls. “That seats 30 inside and 30 in the garden.”
Mr Walls had originally wanted to open a second Olive and Twist in Ivybridge, but was unable to find a suitable venue. Bosses at Drake Circus Shopping Centre contacted him and asked him to take a look at units around the mall.
A deal was struck and now Olive and Twist is trading in the heart of the city, adding 15 staff to the dozen working at the Ridgeway. Mr Walls expects more jobs to be created, and said: “We will grow to 25 to 30 in here as we get busier.”
For Mr Walls becoming a restaurant owner was something of a career shift. He used to work in sales, but a friend approached him with an idea to start a German-themed “oompah” bar. That never materialised but Mr Walls said: “I’d got an itch to open a small cocktail bar and it all grew from that.”
Olive and Twist was the result and the first restaurant was an instant success and named the city’s best dining experience at the 2023 Best Bar None Awards, coming second for best cocktail bar too.
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