50 Gold Coast restaurants and venues have closed in the past four months as high rents hit hard

FOUR restaurants a week are closing on the Gold Coast — that’s 50 restaurants which have shuttered in just the past four months. And there’s just one reason to blame, according to business figures.

JaMm on Oracle Boulevard is one of the latest to announce their closure. Photo: Kit Wise

FOUR restaurants a week are closing on the Gold Coast as an oversaturation of eateries, Commonwealth Games dips and high rents bites.

In the past four months, 50 eateries have shut up shop.

The latest are JaMm Dining and Bar, 1Two3 Mediterranean Dining and Lounge Bar, Treehouse Cafe and Pickled Cactus Mexican.

JaMm opened early 2015. Photo: Kit Wise

The owner of JaMm, formerly located in the Oracle Boulevard, declined to comment on why the restaurant closed.

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1Two3 on Surf Parade had a notice of repossession sign taped to its doors on Tuesday.

Owner David Bennedick, who also runs The Coffee Club in the same street, has been vocal about the detrimental impact of the Surf Pde road upgrades and the Commonwealth Games on Broadbeach.

He blamed both events on the closure of up to 15 Broadbeach businesses earlier this year and an unwillingness of landlords to ease up on steep rents, even if just temporarily as businesses recoup.

Surf Pde was a construction site for a year, killing local business. Photo: Jerad Williams

Harbour Side Markets at Biggera Waters, formerly home to Treehouse Cafe and Pickled Cactus opposite Harbour Town, is currently on the market.

Pickled Cactus moved from its successful Hollywell location to Harbour Side in 2016, doing a full renovation and adding to its capacity only to close less than two years later.

Restaurant oversaturation on the Gold Coast has been identified by even top restaurateurs including Hellenika and Nineteen at the Star owner Simon Gloftis.

“I really do feel for restaurants though because we don’t have the population here to support the amount of venues that we have,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin in July.

8th Ave owners Shannon Baier-Dry (L) and Jordan Stubbs. Photo by Richard Gosling

The amount of food licenced venues on the Gold Coast has increased by 14.47 per cent from 2012-2013 to 2018-2019.

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Using TripAdvisor as a guide, the Gold Coast has about 254 people per restaurant compared to Sydney’s 988 and Melbourne’s 1325.

Shannon Baier-Dry, the co-owner of recently closed award-winning 8th Ave Terrace at Palm Beach agreed that oversaturation is an issue on the Gold Coast, but said locals should see this as a positive.

“In any other city in the world North Room, Nero Dining, Gemellini, Glenelg Public House — all these places — you shouldn’t be able to get a seat in them,” he said.

“We need to look at it and see that we are so lucky that we don’t have to book two months ahead for these amazing restaurants. Let’s book for this week and support them for bringing their passion to the Coast for us.”