Wine bar, retailer and kitchen Vagabond will officially launch its latest new site on Gracechurch Street near Monument in London at the end of January. It joins another recent new opening in Canary Wharf, alongside six more sites in Paddington, Battersea, Fulham, Victoria, Clapham and Charlotte Street.
Vietnamese brand Pho has signed to open a restaurant at the Cornhill Quarter in Lincoln. It has signed for a 2,900 square feet unit in the development, which also hosts branches of Cosy Club, The Botanist and Everyman cinema.
Fast-growing Thai brand Giggling Squid has set 10 February for the opening of its latest new restaurant on St Martin’s Square in Leicester. It will have 100 covers and become the 33rd restaurant in the group.
The Dirty Bones group has launched a Dirty Vegan concept at the Westfield London food court. It has previously operated as a pop-up concept.
London fishmonger Bourne’s is opening a seafood bar at its shop in Highbury next week. It will be a second eat-in venture for Bourne’s, which also runs a restaurant in Belsize Park.
JD Wetherspoon has secured permission to open a pub in a former bank building on the Strand in London, according to reports. It has plans for a 591-capacity venue.
Brazilian concept Rodizio Rico will open shortly in Coventry—its fourth location alongside two in London and one in Birmingham.
Five Guys has set 27 January for the opening of its latest new restaurant at the Swindon Designer Outlet—its 101st launch in the UK. It has taken on a unit at the Designer Outlet previously occupied by Ed’s Easy Diner.
The Ego restaurant brand from the 3Sixty group is to move into Amersham. It has taken over a pub there and will reopen in early March to make its 21st location in the UK, including nine under a partnership with Mitchells & Butlers.
Amber Taverns has started work on a conversion of an old bank building in Rochdale into a pub, local media report. It will operate under Amber’s Hogarths brand, which currently has eight locations, mostly in the north of England.
Peruvian-Japanese fusion restaurant concept Waka is opening a third site in London—on Thomas More Street by St Katherine Docks. Waka’s two other restaurants are on Houndsditch in the City and Wood Lane in White City.
Sandy’s, a wine and piano bar in Oxford, is to launch a second venue on Old Brompton Road in Chelsea.
Cwmbran brewery Brew Monster has opened a new bar on Cardiff’s High Street following a £100,000 crowdfunding campaign. It follows the success of a taproom at Brew Monster’s headquarters.
Mobile doughnut concept Doh’hut has just opened a first permanent unit on Trevelyan Square in Leeds.
North London café Fink’s Salt & Sweet has opened a new coffee shop on Gillespie Road, called Fink’s Gillespie. The original Fink’s is reopening shortly after flood damage.
Black Sheep Coffee has opened a fourth Manchester unit in Gateway House. It follows a new opening in Oxford as Black Sheep continues a roll-out beyond London.
Popular Bristol restaurant The Ethicurean is opening a sister site at the Trevibban Mill Vineyard near Padstow in Cornwall in March. It will be an 80-cover operation.
