Get ready for a Call Lane Summer

Popular Leeds city centre food and drink destination Call Lane is set to welcome back hundreds more outside revellers for seated al fresco drinking and dining following recent renovations and changes to the street made by Leeds City Council.

The long-awaited changes to the thriving bar and restaurant hub have seen the expansion and laying of new pavement and dramatically reduced traffic following a successful trial in Summer 2020. The ongoing improvements on Call Lane leave it well-placed to be the next great destination in a growing list of bustling outdoor city centre spaces.

Already making the most of their new surroundings is local bar and restaurant group Akito Ltd who will be opening three of their four sites for outdoor drinking and dining from Monday 12th April in line with the government’s reopening roadmap. With new furniture, outdoor heaters and rain cover, the bars (including Leeds nightlife mainstays Oporto, Knaves Kitchen, Neon Cactus and Power, Corruption and Lies) will be ready to welcome their dearly-missed customers in all weathers and circumstances from 12PM - 12AM, seven days a week.

Bookings won’t be required for the three Akito venues, leaving space for walk-ins of groups of up to six. All sites will be fully seated, offering table service exclusively and logging track and trace details for all guests in line with current covid regulations. From Mexican street food and cocktails, ‘Disco Dim Sum’ to vegan fast food, craft beer and coffee, the widespread and diverse offering from the various Call Lane venues will ensure that all tastes are catered for.

Following their reopening on the 12th, the bars plan to make use of the new and long awaited outdoor space to host BBQ’s, events, bank holiday specials and lots more over the Summer months. The independent Akito group along with their neighbours on the lane are excited to bring another great outdoor social space to Leeds city centre and welcome back the crowds who make Leeds such a beloved place to eat, drink and dance.

Ross Millar, Operations Manager, Akito Ltd said: “On call lane we are chomping at the bit to welcome people back for al fresco drinking and dining in our new and extended outside area. With extra seating available and no booking necessary the summer is going to look beautiful! We have worked really hard over the past months to ensure complete safety for our guests is achieved with all the necessary covid procedures in place. Having done weeks of extensive research and development on new food and drink offerings in our venues we are super excited for people to come down and sample our creations. It’s been such a tough year all round for everybody, I personally feel a real sense of excitement and emotion for the coming months when we are able to get back to what we know and see some lovely faces.”

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Leeds City Council has worked with hospitality businesses across the city as they prepare to welcome back customers from 12th April. Large parts of the city centre have been transformed over the past year, with some of our key streets and spaces now offering wider footways, more room for outdoor seating, and newly planted trees”

Oporto, Knaves Kitchen, Neon Cactus & Power Corruption and Lies will be open from 12PM - 12AM, seven days a week. Food will be served until 10PM.