Cheltenham's popular Filipino restaurant and karaoke bar, Pyesta, has closed its doors for good this summer 2024.
The destination bar and restaurant, known for its vibrant and authentic Filipino food, colourful cocktails and lively karaoke nights, closed up at the end of July 2024, citing unresolved debts which were made worse by rising running costs and high inflation.
Its co-owner Portia Brown, who lives in Cheltenham and was born in the Philippines, says Pyesta proved hugely popular in the town following its launch in 2022 and was busy year-round on weekends.
But while its sister business, Japanese and Korean restaurant Nagomi — which Portia also launched as co-owner just one month prior to Pyesta — was able to navigate its financial pressures, a lack of custom on weekdays meant that Pyesta was not, with she and her business partner taking the 'painful' decision to close this summer.
Portia puts that down to a lack of familiarity with Filipino food in the UK, with Japanese and Korean cuisine being more widely popular.
Despite its closure, Portia says she is 'so proud' of Pyesta, which was the first Filipino restaurant in Gloucestershire, as it achieved its goal of 'bringing people together' over food and music, with its karaoke nights proving a real hit with locals.
And having brought the tastes of the Philippines to the area for the first time, Portia is now considering running a takeaway, so that her loyal customers can still get their adobo fix.
Portia commented: 'I'm really, really proud of Pyesta and the memories it gave to people.
'Over the two years, we built up a customer base who really love the cuisine — some even actually went to the Philippines just because they enjoyed Pyesta, which is a really good thing.
'Given the chance, I would do it again, because Cheltenham deserves to have something different — something that brings people joy and is more than just food.'
That is also her approach with Nagomi, bringing traditional Korean and Japanese favourites like hotpot and Yakiniku BBQ — cooked over a hot grill at your table, adding a social element to the dining experience — to a place like Cheltenham, outside of the big cities.
She added that she was also proud to have inspired other venues in Gloucestershire to have introduced karaoke — revealing that there could also be scope to introduce the Japanese activity at Nagomi.
'We just need to do a complete soundproofing of the restaurant — people say to me, 'oh, you should get karaoke in Nagomi', and I joke that I need more and more customers so that we can fund the soundproofing!'
