Fratelli to Bring Italian and Sardinian Dining to Beaumont Street, Opposite the Abbey

One of the most prominent corners of Hexham's town centre is set to change hands and change use. Plans have been approved to turn the former Hexham Courant offices at 8 Beaumont Street into an Italian and Sardinian restaurant, bringing a new dining option to a spot that looks straight across at Hexham Abbey and out over the Sele.

The restaurant, Fratelli, is a new venture from the family behind the well-known Fratelli in Ponteland, which has been serving the village since 2007. Restaurateur Fabrizio Saba will run the Hexham venue alongside his son and daughter, describing it as a smaller sister to the Ponteland original rather than a straight copy.

A landmark building put back to work

The former newspaper offices sit within Hexham's conservation area and next door to a Grade II listed neighbour, so the scheme has been handled with an eye to its surroundings. Under the approved plans, the ground floor becomes a restaurant and bar with a mezzanine level, while the upper floors are converted into two-bedroom apartments. The management team has pointed to its Ponteland record on this front, noting that the original restaurant has run for around eighteen years without a single noise complaint.

For the town, the appeal is partly about footfall. This stretch of Beaumont Street, between the Abbey, Queen's Hall and the park, is one of Hexham's most photographed, and a busy restaurant window here helps knit the cultural quarter together.

What to expect

Fratelli's Ponteland kitchen leans on wood-fired pizza, pasta and Sardinian specialities, drawing on Saba's own roots and more than thirty years in the trade in both Italy and the UK. The Hexham site is expected to follow suit. Planned opening hours run from 10am to 10pm Sunday to Thursday and until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and the venture is expected to create a mix of full-time and part-time jobs in the town.

An opening date has not yet been confirmed, so it is worth checking ahead before making a special trip. But for a building that has stood empty since the Courant moved on, a bustling Italian dining room opposite the Abbey is a welcome next chapter.

Best for: Fratelli's Ponteland restaurant has run for around eighteen years, and the family say the Hexham site will be a smaller version of it, opposite the Abbey on Beaumont Street.

---

Details are drawn from the Hexham Courant. Spotted a local story we should cover? Get in touch.