A new food hall called Society has just opened at Barbirolli Square in Manchester. The 8,000 square feet site has been renovated after being empty for more than a decade, and will be home to five operators: Indian street food venture Chaat Cart; burger brand Slap & Pickle, for whom it is a fifth location; Asian concept Manzoku; Dokes Pizzeria, from the team behind Manchester’s Elnecot; and Korean fried chicken specialist Yoki Social Table. The bar element is being run by craft brewery Vocation. Society has 350 covers and has been developed by the team behind Assembly Underground in Leeds.
Franco Manca has just launched new sires in Borough Market and Holborn. Forthcoming openings include Glasgow, and the group is now researching other locations.
Vietnamese brand Pho says it is opening at the Cornhill Quarter in Lincoln this August.
A new collective of street food vendors and bars called Between the Bridges opened on the South Bank in London this week. The 4,000 square feet venue has food from street food concepts including Burger & Beyond, Born & Raised, The Cheese Wheel, Club Mexicana, El Pollote, Flank, Rice Guys and Urban Falafel, and claims to be London’s largest outdoor drinking area. It will also host live entertainment, markets and competitive socialising elements.
Five Guys has applied for permission to open at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester. It would be the sixth site in the Greater Manchester area for the brand, and a second in the city centre alongside the Arndale centre.
Gordon Ramsay’s Street Burger has opened its first restaurant outside of London at the Woking Shopping development. It has taken a 3,70 square feet unit with space for a Gordon Ramsay Academy on the top floor. Woking Shopping has also signed up three local independents: Island House restaurant and bar from the Rarebreed Dining group, Black & Irons Bar & Grill and Duke’s Bar and Deli.
Butcombe Brewing Co has opened its first taproom in Bristol. The Whitmore Tap is on the site of the Penny pub on Whiteladies Road in the Clifton area.
400 Rabbits its opening a fifth pizzeria in the new Elephant & Castle development this week. It joins restaurants in Crystal Palace, Herne Hill, Nunhead and West Norwood.
Caribbean restaurant and bar Rum Kitchen is opening near the Lanes in Brighton in mid-July. It has taken on a 7,000 square feet unit previously occupied by Jamie’s Italian, and will have 300 covers over two floors, a private dining area, bar and roof terrace. The Brighton launch joins Rum Kitchen sites in Soho, Brixton and Shoreditch.
Whitbread is opening Cookhouse + Pub sites within Premier Inn hotels in two locations shortly: Sandown and Blackpool. They will have 165 and 215 covers respectively.
Retro games arcade bar Four Quarters is to open in the latest stage of the Elephant Park development in south London. The brand is taking a 3,300 square feet unit and will open in August with a wide range of arcade games and a full restaurant offer and a bar focusing on craft beer and cocktails. The Four Quarters concept launched in Peckham in 2014, and it now has a second venue in Hackney Wick. The opening deal was brokered for Landlease by Shelley Sandzer.
Pret has started a partnership with the Motor Fuel Group to open shops in petrol stations, starting with a forecourt in Southgate. More openings will follow if it proves successful.
Birmingham-based Japanese restaurant Takumi is to open a first London restaurant on Old Compton Street. It has taken on a two-floor, 1,800 square feet, 50-cover unit in a lease arranged by Shelley Sandzer. The restaurant is due to open in September.
Two new independent Asian restaurant concepts have just launched at Liverpool ONE. South East Asian bar and brasserie Mamasan, has opened a 6,875 square feet site on College Lane, while street food style concept Maggie Fu has created a 4,700 square feet venue on Hanover Street. Mamasan has another restaurant in Glasgow, while Maggie Fu has a site in the Smithdown Road area of Liverpool.
A new specialist roast chicken restaurant called Sidechick has opened on James Street in Marylebone. It has 50 covers inside and 20 more outside
Marston’s opens the Hartford Hall pub and restaurant in Northwich in Cheshire in the next few weeks. The venue will have 150 covers inside after a major refurbishment, plus 200 outside. It will be part of the Revere Pub Company group at Marston’s.
An all-day restaurant and rooftop venue are to be part of a new social and environmental community operation called The Conduit that will open on Langley Street in Covent Garden later in the year. They will have a focus on sustainable and ethical practices, and will sit alongside meeting spaces, a bookshop and office space for social businesses.
JD Wetherspoon has submitted plans to create a new pub in Grays in Essex, according to local media. It wants to convert an old cinema there.
To read last weeks new openings round-up, click here.
