Inside Sunderland's new Ati's Smash burger and dessert restaurant, featuring whey aye burgers and Jammie Dodger doughnuts -

After months of renovations, Ati’s Smash is preparing to open its doors in the former Pizza King unit in Holmeside.

The new venture is being brought to the city by brothers Ataishan and Addiq Hussain who are aiming to provide a fun, relaxed burger and dessert place for either sit in, take away or delivery.

There’s a broad menu on offer, with burger options such as the Route SR1, the Whey Aye and the Beast from the North East, as well as fried chicken burgers and loaded fries.

Sweet tooths are also set to be satisfied with milkshakes made with everything from Terry’s chocolate orange and Maltesers to Reese’s peanut butter cups and Skittles.

Desserts also include cheesecakes, brownies, smoothies, sundaes, waffles loaded with options such as Kinder Bueno and Ferrero Rocher and cookie dough made with favourites such as Lotus Biscoff and Nutella.

It’s one of only a handful of city centre places dedicated to burgers and Ati says he’s hoping to add to Sunderland’s expanding food offering.

"We’re from Leeds and there’s lots of burger places there, so we thought it would be great to bring more burger options to Sunderland. We also wanted to do something a bit different with the desserts,” said the businessman.

Ati’s Smash specialises in smash burgers, which are loosely packed ground fresh beef patties, which Ati seasons with their own blend.

There’s 20 covers inside the restaurant, with a dedicated selfie chair for people who want to commit their burgers to Instagram.

The brothers will be opening next week, week commencing June 12, with the exact date announced on their social channels.

It will be open seven days a week, from 3pm to 12midnight, with a view to opening for lunch in the future.

Ati says there’s already been interest in the new venture. “We’ve had lots of people walking past when we’ve been renovating the site and asking what’s going on. The response on social so far has been good, too,” he said.

The new venture is opposite the site of the new multi-storey car park which will be built in Holmeside, a scheme which is linked to regeneration plans in the area, such as the renovation of Sunderland’s central rail station, a new bus priority and gyratory scheme on Holmeside and the demolition of the old Sunderland Civic Centre car park to make way for housing.