Work is underway to transform a former Beefeater into a Turkish restaurant.
The Royal Oak Beefeater in London Road, Wrotham Heath near Sevenoaks, shut its doors in July 2025.
Work is underway to transform the former Beefeater into a traditional Turkish restaurant, The Kara Lounge & Grill in Wrotham Heath near Sevenoaks. Picture: Kara Sevenoaks Facebook
Now, it’s set to become the home to the third branch of The Kara Bar & Grill, a traditional Turkish restaurant that serves over 20,000 customers monthly.
Currently, the premises is under construction with “coming soon” banners decorating the front of the building.
According to its social media pages, the restaurant is set to open this summer with a grand opening. No date has been revealed yet.
Pictures shared on Facebook reveal the planned look for The Kara Lounge, as well as the ongoing construction works inside and outside of the site.
The new owners wrote: “We’re still under construction but we will be opening this summer. We’ve had thousands of sign-ups on our website to join us on the grand opening.
“We are truly thankful for everybody’s support and we can’t wait to come to your local area.
“We’ll see you all very soon.”
The Kara Lounge & Grill is coming to Wrotham Heath near Sevenoaks this summer. Picture: Kara Sevenoaks Facebook
The former Royal Oak Beefeater at Wrotham Heath
The eatery opened its first site in Grays, Essex in July 2022, and a second site in Fleet, which opened in June 2024.
Kara was voted the best Turkish restaurant in Essex in 2024 and 2025 at the Open Table Awards. Its menu offers a range of hot and cold appetizers, steaks and seafood, and a dedicated vegetarian section.
The Royal Oak Beefeater, which was owned by Whitbread, had operated in Wrotham Heath for decades.
It is one of several branches that has closed down in recent years. The Long Reach Beefeater in Whitstable closed on July 5, 2024, along with Brewers Fayre branches in Margate, Bexleyheath and West Malling.
In August last year, Hilden Manor in London Road, Hildenborough, near Tonbridge, shut its doors too.
These closures came after plans were announced by bosses to slash its portfolio of branded restaurants by more than 200 in favour of building more hotel rooms.
It has meant axing around 1,500 jobs across the UK.
At the time, the firm said the move is part of a plan to “optimise” its food and drink offering, to add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate and increase “operational efficiencies”.