After more than a decade of serving up burgers to Christchurch students and locals, Velvet Burger Riccarton has announced it will close its doors.

The popular Riccarton Road burger joint has been a staple in the area for 11 years, particularly known for its much-loved two-for-one burger deal every Tuesday — a weekly ritual for many university students and residents.

Velvet Burger Riccarton is part of Cook Brothers Bars hospitality group.

The restaurant’s current manager, who has been with the business since 2017, said “Velvet Burger Riccarton is closing its doors after 11 years, serving many students two-for-one burgers every Tuesday since we first opened.

“Honestly Chris, it’s such a rough over saturated market. Wage costs, operating costs and stock costs make the margin so small.

“Consumers basically vote with their money, which means supporting your favourite businesses at full price regularly if you want them to stay open.

“We opened in Riccarton just after the quakes, when people had moved out of the city and we had awesome trade being close to the uni too. With the rebuild happening, we’ve seen consumers move out of Riccarton, so much so that this suburb is a graveyard of empty commercial buildings.

“We will join around 20 other empty sites on Riccarton Road alone.

“We know all the people at businesses around us personally, we’ve also had some very loyal customers over the years, all of which know this is a huge loss for not only Riccarton, but Christchurch.”

The outlet’s Final trading day will be 6th May, where it will still offer its 2 for 1 deal.