FOODIES will be feline happy when the former Maxwell’s bar is brought back to life and named after a club owner’s dead cat.

Rob Opher and Al Thompson have bought the lease on the popular Queen Street venue, which ran as an American diner-style restaurant by day and nightclub by night for almost 40 years until it closed in April.

The club owners, who run Thirst bar in Park End Street, see the opening of the Westgate Centre on October 24 as an opportunity to revitalise the premises and promised that its American vibe would continue at Hanks, starting out as a late-night bar serving cocktails, burgers and beer.

Mr Opher said: “The bar is being named Hanks after Al’s cat Hank as he passed away recently and I’m sure there will be a picture of Hank on the wall.

“Al doted on his cat and wanted to name the bar after him as a tribute.

“I think it’s a great idea and Hanks has got the same ring to it as Maxwell’s.

“People loved Maxwell’s - students and locals - it was an institution - and this will be a bar for local people.

“It will also be a place for staff from the Westgate Centre to come when they have finished their shift.

“The footfall in the city centre will increase as a result of the shopping centre opening and we see that as an opportunity.”

Father-of-two Mr Opher from Garsington said Hanks would initially open from 7pm to 3am Thursday to Saturday and from 7pm to 2am Monday to Wednesday, with a long-term goal of opening during the day as well.

Maxwell’s Bar and Grill chain was launched by Brian Stein in Hampstead, London in the early 1970s and the branch in Queen Street opened in the 1980s.

Before it opened it was a greasy spoon - Crawford’s Cafe.

Mr Opher added: “I was the manager of Maxwell’s for about five years in the late 1990s when I was a kid so you could say I’m revisiting my youth.

“As well as cocktails and beer we will serve what I call street food - stuff that is wrapped up like top quality hamburgers.”

Mr Opher said he hoped customers from Thirst, celebrating its 18th birthday on November 4, will also come to Hanks.

Mr Thompson added: “Hank was a stray who got his name because he was always Hank Marvin - starving.

“He reached the grand old age of 21 and loved sleeping in a box.”

Mr Opher said Hanks was set to open on Friday, October 27 or on a date to be fixed in early November.