Thai restaurant brand Giggling Squid has reached the milestone of 40 restaurants after its latest opening in Hornchurch in Essex.
South Korean fried chicken brand Pelicana has signed for its second UK location at Angel Central in London. It has taken on a 2,200 square feet unit there, with an 80-cover restaurant on the first floor and a takeaway operation on the ground floor. Pelicana was founded in 1982 and now has around 3,000 stores in Asia, Australia, China and North America. It launched into the UK at Hammersmith Broadway, and has another new opening lined up in Wimbledon as it begins a UK roll-out under franchise owner Dong Hyun Kim, the founder of Wasabi.
The Barworks group is about to open Gas Station on Goods Way in King’s Cross, in a space previously occupied by Chapel Down’s distillery. The bar and restaurant will also have a large outdoor space. Barworks runs London venues in areas including Shoreditch, Soho, Angel, Farringdon, Clerkenwell and Southwark, Dalston, Camden and Spitalfields.
Rosa’s Thai Café is to open a new restaurant in York. It has taken on a 4,800 square feet site on Coney Street in the city that was previously occupied by Joe’s Kitchen.
Landsec has announced the signing of US-style barbecue and lobster restaurant and bar brand Big Easy for a 6,100 square feet site at Bluewater in November. The venue will be on the upper level of Bluewater’s Plaza, and have 236 covers over two floors, plus a live music stage on the mezzanine. It will open in November, becoming the first Big Easy location beyond London.
Various Eateries’ all-day café, lounge, restaurant and bar brand Coppa Club is to open in Putney in south west London in early November. It will become the ninth Coppa Club location, and the second in London.
The Oakman Inns group has just opened in Wokingham. The Rose Inn is a 185-cover site over two floors and becomes Oakman’s 36th location. The group says it has ten more sites in its pipeline of openings for the next two years.
US-based Slim Chickens opens in Nottingham next week, having taken on a 130-cover unit on Long Row previously occupied by MOD Pizza. It will become the brand’s 15th UK location.
Dining and deli concept Sourced Market has just opened at the Cobham service station off the M25. It is a second motorway opening, following Leeds Skelton Lake last year.
Neighbourhood restaurant and bar group Darwin & Wallace has applied for permission to open in Battersea Rise, though its plans have received local objections. Darwin & Wallace runs a site in Battersea’s Power Station West, plus seven more in Canary Wharf, Chiswick, Clapham, Ealing, Pimlico, Richmond and Wimbledon.
US fried chicken brand Wingstop opened its doors at the Cabot Circus development in Bristol this week. It becomes Wingstop’s 14th UK location, and its first in the south west.
JD Wetherspoon is opening in Beaconsfield, local media report. It has acquired a building previously occupied by Prezzo.
The Avocado Show, an Amsterdam-based restaurant specialising in avocadoes, is opening a first UK site on Princes Street in central London next week. The brand has restaurants in Brussels and Madrid as well as three in Amsterdam.
Mexican brand Benito’s Hat has submitted plans to open in Hinckley in Leicestershire, according to local media. It has applied for a licence to operate in a former nightclub building there. Benito’s Hat currently has two sites in London and one in Oxford.
Coffeeshop and café brand Joe & the Juice and new independent Plants & Grills have both agreed deals with Landsec for openings at the Westgate centre in Oxford. Joe & The Juice’s has taken a 1,280 square feet site for its second opening outside London, while Plants & Grills will be part of the Westgate Social Street Food part of the complex.
Six more independent food and drink brands have joined the line-up of operators at Camden Market Hawley Wharf at LabTech’s Camden development. They include Afghan street food concept 2 Lads Kitchen, Pinner-based Mexican street food restaurant Chingon, Greek brand Mikos Gyros, which has six sites around London, and Pakistani specialist Khaoo, plus two dessert operators, The Great British Cheesecake Company and Longboys. There are now more than 30 independent retailers at Hawley Wharf.
To read last week’s new openings round-up, click here.
