Victor J's at 1A Finkle Street, off St Sampson's Square, closed on New Year's Day ready for the makeover. Nine days later, they welcomed customers back in.
"Essentially, the old bar was a café that someone decided to serve alcohol in," general manager Matthew Hall said. "Everything was in the wrong place, there was no room for growth really".
"We couldn't make ourselves any busier, in the busy periods we were effectively capped.
"Now, we can cope with being at full capacity - whereas in the Christmas period we'd have to close for half an hour to get on top of cleaning glasses and the like. Christmas was heaving, it was the same level of busy every day. It didn't stop."
Open seven days a week, Victor J's serves food during the day, and opens late on Friday and Saturday.
The bar - which brands itself as "York's most famous snicket bar" - said their refurbishment took six months of prior planning. Matthew himself said he planned the new look bar with no prior experience.
He added that they chose to undergo the makeover once things quietened down after Christmas.
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