Whitbread is to launch its third Bar + Block steakhouse concept in February—at the Whiteley shopping centre in Hampshire. It will be its third Bar + Block in all, joining the original in Birmingham and a second in King’s Cross, due to launch on 5 December. The Whiteley restaurant will have 177 covers over 4,500 square feet, with features including a central bar, open kitchen and outdoor area. It will open all day from breakfast to dinner, and offer drinks including cocktails and craft beers. David Murdin, chief operating officer of brand developments for Whitbread Restaurants, said: “We’re really looking forward to bringing Bar + Block Steakhouse to Whiteley. This is an exciting time of growth for the Bar + Block brand, with our flagship site opening in London this November.”
Red’s True Barbecue launches at the Intu Eldon Square development in Newcastle on 21 November, joining a host of other new arrivals there.
MOD Pizza will open its previously announced new London flagship restaurant in Leicester Square on 8 December. It will be MOD’s fourth in all, and follows close behind a third in Gateshead, joining the first two in Leeds and Brighton.
US burger brand Five Guys has just opened at the Meridian Leisure Park development in Leicester. It continues a partnership with Legal & General to open at various UK developments. The latest launch is a second site in Leicester for Five Guys.
Thai Leisure Group’s casual Thaikhun brand is the latest name to sign up to the WestQuay Watermark development in Southampton. It opens on 5 December and is a 100-cover operation over 5,400 square feet.
Nando’s has set 16 November for the opening of its latest new restaurant at the Riverside development in Stafford. The launch will be followed on 7 December with an opening at Teesside retail park.
Leon and Wasabi are both preparing to open around Cornmarket Street in Oxford, the Oxford Times reports. Wasabi will launch on Tuesday (16 November), with Leon to follow on an unspecified date.
You can view Leon’s property requirements here.
Cote and L’Osteria are soon to launch at a new food court in Quaker’s Friars at the Cabot Circus development in Bristol. L’Osteria is a Germany-based pizza and pasta chain for whom this will be a UK debut.
Manchester’s Yard and Coop fried chicken concept will open a second restaurant at Liverpool ONE in the next few weeks.
Gourmet Burger Kitchen has set 21 November for its latest new opening at Clarks Village in Street in Somerset. It has taken a 162 cover restaurant over 4,500 square feet. The brand meanwhile opened at Glasgow Fort in Scotland on Monday (7 November).
SOHO Coffee Co has two new store openings in central London: on the Strand opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, and on St Pauls Churchyard. The first opened last Thursday (3 November) and the second on Thursday (10 November). It marks the brand’s first move into the capital. Managing director Penny Manuel said: “We have had our eyes on the London market for some time—it is a big step for a regionally based operator to take and we wanted to ensure we chose the right locations. We are very excited to be bringing SOHO ‘home’.”
You can view SOHO Coffee Co’s property requirements here.
Bill’s opens in Chelmsford on Monday (14 November). It has taken a unit in the town’s Bond Street development, between ASK Italian and Byron. The restaurant becomes Bill’s 76th UK location.
A new burger and milkshake concept called Griddle & Shake opened in at the Lace Market in Nottingham on Monday (7 November). Set up by chef Ed Halls, it wans to open three more sites in the next two years, and 20 within seven years. Halls said: “We are set to take the UK burger market by storm and I look forward to the Griddle & Shake brand growing and expanding across the country.”
The Imbiba Partnership has backed a new barbecue restaurant and wine bar concept called Temper on Broadwick Street in Soho. It has been developed by Sam Lee with chef Neil Rankin and has an open kitchen with large fire pit.
Bar Douro, a new rustic-style Portuguese restaurant and bar, opened at Flat Iron Square by London Bridge arches on Monday (7 November). It has been set up by Max Graham, who has previously run Portuguese pop-ups in London, some of them associated with his family’s business, Churchill’s Port.
The San Carlo group has acquired a sixth site in Manchester, on King Street West close to its flagship restaurant in the city. It will be San Carlo’s 17th UK restaurant in all.
The Stockyard, a deep south American-themed bar and restaurant in Hale, is to open a second site in Stockton Heath.
A new pan-Asian bar and restaurant called Miusan is to open on Inverness Street in Camden soon. Meaning new temple in Cantonese, it will be styled on 1940s New York and Paris opium dens. The 2,245 square feet venue will have three floors: a ground floor bar and dining area, basement dance floor and mezzanine area for private hire. The concept has been developed by Chris Singam, the owner of the Cottons Caribbean restaurants in Notting Hill Gate, Camden and Boxpark Shoreditch.
Young’s has acquired the Riverstation restaurant on Bristol harbourside. It will continue to run the business as it is until a refurbishment in the new year.
Seafood restaurant Bonnie Gull Seafood Shack is to open a second site on Bateman Street in Soho. It joins the first Shack on Foley Street in Fitzrovia. The Soho site be a small 22-cover operation and should open its doors in early December.
JD Wetherspoon has secured permission to open on Camden Street in Dublin as it continues an expansion into Ireland. The development will produce a hotel as well as pub.
You can view JD Wetherspoon property requirements here.
Boswells Coffee are looking for sites in South East and South West Locations, you can view their property requirements here.
Senor Ceviche, Ottolenghi & Opso are all looking for further representation in London and have recently appointed acquisition agents.
