The Pineto Lounge cafe and bar is set to open in The Lexicon on March 13, it has been confirmed.

Rumours that a Lounge restaurant could come to The Lexicon first surfaced in November 2023. The Lexicon general manager Rob Morris confirmed at the time there had been talks with Loungers over a possible opening.

The rumours were fuelled when a planning application was submitted to Bracknell Forest Council in January to put up signs and adverts for a new bar and cafe called ‘Pineto Lounge’.

Now Bracknell Forest Council has granted permission, and the Lounges restaurant chain’s website says the venue will open on Wednesday, March 13 at 8 Eagle Lane, Braccan Walk.

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It also says opening hours will run from 9am-midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 9am-11pm Sundays – Thursdays.

Pineto Lounge will take the place of the Prezzo restaurant, which closed last year.

The Italian restaurant chain closed a third of its branches across the UK, citing increased utility costs and a drop in footfall. But The Lexicon’s general manager Rob Morris said that restaurants in The Lexicon are ‘reporting good results,’ and that footfall in the shopping centre was up.

He said: “The fact that Prezzo closed almost a third of its restaurants, across the UK in 2023, one of them being in The Lexicon, is in no way a reflection on how restaurants are faring in the town centre.

“Footfall in The Lexicon was up 20 per cent in 2023, a terrific result, against a flat figure for the South East. Our restaurants are reporting good results and we don't see any reason why that will change in the future.”