Fifty new jobs at £1m burger bar in Dewsbury

Owner Imran Ahmed at the new Emojies burger bar in Dewsbury town centre

Emojies is in the same building as the iconic Bailey’s Café, next to the recently-revamped Black Bull pub in Market Place.

The building, bought by Dewsbury businessman Imran Ahmed in 2016, has had a complete renovation and the interior has a stunning high-end finish with an industrial theme.

The restaurant, set over two floors, has light-up tables, two huge video walls and a feature may blossom tree.

Dewsbury-born Imran, 39, said: “It really has the wow factor when you go inside. We want it to be on a par with the kind of sit-down restaurant experience you would find in Leeds, Manchester or London.”

Bailey’s Café was an institution in Dewsbury for 70 years until it closed in 2014.

The building, which has an art deco frontage, had a serious fire just before Imran bought it. The structure had to be gutted and has been extended and almost totally rebuilt.

Imran, who also has the Oasis Indian restaurant on Bradford Road, Batley, said he wanted to create something special in his hometown.

“There is nothing really nice like this in Dewsbury,” he said.

Emojies will have a menu based around burgers, grilled chicken and fish along with desserts, smoothies and milkshakes. It will seat 160 diners inside and out.

There is a rooftop terrace at the back, which will have eight or 10 tables, and there is a licence for tables in the street outside. The entire frontage can be opened up and there is a retractable awning.

Inside the décor is green, white and black and there is a 170-inch video wall downstairs and a 110-inch video wall upstairs. There is a feature carpet wall with the Emojies logo and the may blossom tree has a real trunk but the flowers are artificial.

While some hospitality venues have struggled to recruit staff since the pandemic, Imran had 300 applicants for the jobs.

Work started in June 2019 and the plan, before Covid, was to open last October. The opening is now planned during the first two weeks of June.

Imran said: “While we can’t wait to open, we want to make sure we get it right.”