Yu Alabárdos

YU ALABÁRDOS · A Legacy Reborn

Nestled in the heart of Szeged, this historic building is one of the few structures in the city that survived the catastrophic Great Flood of 1879. For decades, it housed ALABÁRDOS – one of Szeged’s most beloved, long-standing traditional restaurants, whose warm atmosphere and home-style flavours shaped the culinary memories of generations of locals.

When the restaurant closed in 2017, its owner at the time, Dr. Gellért Ákos Károly, carefully took the guestbook with him. For almost nine years, he kept this book – filled with decades of guest notes, praise and personal stories – as a treasured reminder of the restaurant’s legacy.

When Cherry Group took over the space, we added the prefix “YU” – the Chinese word for jade, a symbol of grace and sincerity – to create YU ALABÁRDOS. Our goal was to honour the century-old heritage of the ALABÁRDOS name, while bringing authentic Huaiyang and Sichuan cuisine to this historic setting. Throughout the renovation, we prioritised protecting the building’s heritage features, including the striking embossed bronze wall and the ancient stone city coat of arms, and wove Eastern aesthetics gently into the fabric of the old space.

What touched us most was that on the eve of our reopening, Dr. Gellért Ákos Károly returned the long-kept guestbook to its rightful home. He told us he hoped the book would stay on display in the restaurant, so that all the old stories could be followed by new ones – filled with the thoughts, congratulations and good wishes of every guest who walks through the door.

Old stories endure; new chapters begin. We care for the history and warmth of this century-old building, and use food as a bridge between East and West. Here, timeless hospitality lives on, and two culinary cultures meet in one welcoming space.