Fish and chip shop brand Harry Ramsden’s has launched the first of its new pub-based concepts at the Wingerworth pub in Chesterfield. It opened on Tuesday (15 March) and kickstarts an agreement with Punch Taverns to take the brand into pubs. Harry Ramsden’s will operate the pub kitchen on a day to day basis, offering breakfast as well as lunch and dinner. Chief executive Joe Teixeira said: “The classic Harry Ramsden’s model is perfectly suited to the outlets we currently operate. We are, however, taking advantage of our entrance into a new market and believe this presents the perfect opportunity to evolve the brand and further extend the modern day face of Harry’s to a new generation of customers.”
Casual Dining Group is taking its Belgian restaurant brand Belgo outside London for the first time with an opening in Nottingham. It will be on the Lace Market area and opens in early April.
Coffee shop and cocktail bar brand Grind will open in Covent Garden tomorrow (18 March). Another opening will follow at the Royal Exchange arcade in the City next month. The branches will bring Grind’s total to seven, adding to venues in Shoreditch, Holborn and London Bridge, and Great Windmill Street and Beak Street in Soho.
Five Guys will open in the Mall in Luton this summer. It will be its 43rd UK restaurant in all.
Smashburger has chosen Brighton for the site of its second UK restaurant. The first one is due to open in Milton Keynes in May, and the brand has now secured a site on North Street now occupied by Mucho Burrito, according to local media.
Brewhouse & Kitchen is opening in Cheltenham. It has taken a 5,000 square feet unit at the Brewery there.
The Tasty group’s Wildwood restaurant brand has signed to a unit in Ilkley.
Bill’s wants to open in Bournemouth, in a unit previously occupied by the Lola Lo bar. The Bournemouth Echo says an application for permission for outside seating has been made to the local council. In the meantime, Bill’s expects to open in Sevenoaks on 9 April.
Nando’s will open in Loughborough in mid-May.
Arc Inspirations’ Banyan Bar & Kitchen opens in Leeds in early May. It will be on City Square there.
The Restaurant Group is to open branches of its Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito brands at the Anchorwood Bank development in Barnstaple.
Busaba Eathai opened on Hanover Street in Liverpool on Monday (14 March). It has a 144-cover restaurant and bar area.
Geronimo Inns has just opened the Leman Street Tavern in Whitechapel. Its offer includes breakfasts, seasonal British food, whisky library and a private dining area.
Wahaca has set 15 April for the opening of its Brighton restaurant. It will be Wahaca’s 21st restaurant in all.
Prezzo will open its latest new restaurant in Grantham next Thursday (24 March). It is a 137-cover site.
Yorkshire-based restaurant and café brand Filmore & Union has just opened in Beverley. It is its ninth site in all.
Faucet Inn is taking its Scandinavian-style concept Kupp beyond London with plans for sites in the Guildhall shopping centre in Exeter and the Corn Exchange in Manchester. The original Kupp opened in Paddington Basin in London last year.
Walter and Monty, a barbecue concept that has operated as a street food and pop-up concept, has secured its first permanent site on Bury Court in the City. The 30-cover unit will open for lunch at first, with breakfast and dinner service to follow in due course.
A new craft beer bar concept called 1000 Trades will open in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter later this year, the city’s Post newspaper reports.
