Henry Boons: Historic Wakefield pub to reopen as Chai Shai Indian street food restaurant

Henry Boons on Westgate, which has 200 years history as a pub and was under the same ownership for 40 years, closed down last summer

It has since been taken over and converted into a restaurant that will sell Indian street food and desserts under the name Chai Shai.

The loss of the pub was mourned by many across the city, but Wakefield Civic Society president Kevin Trickett welcomed the building being brought back into use rather than being left to decay.

He said: “It’s always good to see an empty building being repurposed rather than lying empty – empty buildings can deteriorate very quickly.

"Although we were sorry to see the pub, Henry Boon’s, close down, we have to accept that businesses have to make a profit to remain viable and Boon’s is sadly far from unique in closing in recent years.

"That a new use has now been found for the building is really good news and we wish the proprietors well with their new venture.

"This isn’t the first time that this building has been used as a restaurant.

“Originally The Green Dragon, the building was used as a hardware shop in the late 1960s before becoming the Shalamar Restaurant and Takeaway in the 1970s, serving Asian and Continental dishes.”

Last year, Wakefield Pub Company director Paul Garthwaite told the Wakefield Express that the decision to close was not easy but growing economic pressures meant the business was “left with no other option but to come to this sad outcome”.

Historically called The George and Dragon, the pub was renamed The Green Dragon in the 1820s and became Henry Boons in 1983.

It takes its name from Henry Boon Clark, founder of HB Clark brewery, which was situated next to the pub.

The Chai Shai decor has been added recently though the Henry Boons sign still hangs from the upper floor on the Westgate side of the building.

It went up for sale with a guide price of £300,000 early last year.