Tewkesbury restaurant plan will create 40 jobs
The pub, which has a chequered history, has been shut since May 2008 when owner Enterprise Inns put it up for sale.
Nothing happened at the Mythe Road site until July of this year, when two brothers from Pembroke in west Wales, Viren and Vikram Moholkar, bought it.
They have been refurbishing the venue since and have agreed to lease it to Wendy and Mike Wakeman. The couple plan to run the place but under a new name, which they want Tewkesbury people to help them come up with.
They intend to invest £130,000 of their own money on the business, on top of that which the brothers are spending on renovating the run-down building.
Wendy said the aim is to completely change the whole ethos of the business, from being a drinking pub that has attracted mostly young people, to one where families can go along and enjoy a meal.
She and her husband, who have four children, will continue to run the Gardeners Arms at Alderton, near Tewkesbury.
Wendy said: "We're looking to change the concept and we want people to help us re-name it. We understand the King John's Tavern has had a very bad reputation.
"It will definitely be a family-themed restaurant. The main thing will be a carvery and grill.
"We've got to the stage where the Gardeners Arms is doing so well now, we feel it's the right time to start experimenting."
She said there is still a lot of work to be done to the building, and planning permission will be required for new signs and an extraction unit, but she hopes the restaurant will open in mid or late January.
Noise and anti-social behaviour at the pub has led to residents' complaints in the past.
Wendy admitted a bar may be opened in the basement of the building, but said it would only be in the summer and she did not feel this would cause problems.
She is inviting people to enter a competition to name the restaurant. Suggestions should be emailed to gardeners1@ btconnect.com by the first week in December. The winner will get a free meal for four.
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