Well known Christchurch burger joint closing down

Phoro: Supplied

A popular Christchurch burger bar will close its doors after 11 years of business.

Chrislynchmedia.com

reported Velvet Burger Riccarton on Riccarton Rd, which is part of Cook Brothers Bars hospitality group, will close on May 6.

The restaurant manager, who has been with the business since 2017, told

chrislynchmedia.com

: "Velvet Burger Riccarton is closing its doors after 11 years, serving many students two-for-one burgers every Tuesday since we first opened.

"Honestly Chris, it’s such a rough over saturated market. Wage costs, operating costs and stock costs make the margin so small," told

chrislynchmedia.com.

"Consumers basically vote with their money, which means supporting your favourite businesses at full price regularly if you want them to stay open.

"We opened in Riccarton just after the quakes, when people had moved out of the city and we had awesome trade being close to the uni too.

"With the rebuild happening, we’ve seen consumers move out of Riccarton, so much so that this suburb is a graveyard of empty commercial buildings.

"We will join around 20 other empty sites on Riccarton Road alone.

"We know all the people at businesses around us personally, we’ve also had some very loyal customers over the years, all of which know this is a huge loss for not only Riccarton, but Christchurch."