Asian brand Itsu this week opened its first dine-in location under franchise, at the Reading Gate retail park. The site has takeaway as well as eat-in options, with 160 covers and digital ordering screens. A second franchise site is following at the Fosse Park retail and leisure park in Leicester in September.
Neat Burger, the plant-based fast casual brand backed by Lewis Hamilton, is opening a fourth London restaurant in Finsbury Park next week. Six more London sites have already been lined up, in Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf, Ealing, Kings Road, Victoria and Westfield Stratford. Regional openings and an international rollout under franchise are also planned.
Neighbourhood restaurant, café and deli Megan’s is continuing an expansion beyond London with a new site in Marlow. It has taken on a former Prezzo restaurant there. Megan’s has 11 sites in London, and also operates in St Albans, with a launch in Weybridge to follow. Other forthcoming locations include Dulwich.
Open House, the group behind The Lighterman at King’s Cross and is opening a new pub and restaurant called The Broadcaster at the White City Television Centre development in west London towards the end of September. The site will have a ground-floor pub and first-floor dining room, with a rooftop bar to follow next Spring. Open House is also lining up a new venue in Fitzrovia called Percy & Founders.
Healthy restaurant and retailer Little Farm is opening a ninth London site in September, on Cannon Street in the City in a unit previously occupied by EAT. It follows recent openings in Hammersmith and London Bridge.
Rotisserie chicken concept Cocotte is about to open its fifth restaurant on Harrington Road in South Kensington. It will join Cocottes in Notting Hill, Parsons Green, Queen’s Park and Shoreditch and is due to open before the end of August.
Landlease have announced three new deals for the Elephant Park development in London. Independent south London pub group Livelyhood, sourdough pizza specialists Four Hundred Rabbits and Elephant & Castle’s Latin American grocery and café DistriAndina have all signed up, for units measuring 3,100 square feet, 1,800 square feet and 2,100 square feet respectively. Livelyhood’s pub, the Rosy Hue, will be its eighth location in all, while it is a fifth opening for Four Hundred Rabbits. Landlease is now marketing the latest phase of Elephant Park, the Chatteris Quarter.
Black Sheep Coffee is opening up an 850 square feet day-to-night coffeeshop and cocktail bar at White Horse Square at Wembley Park.
AngloThai, which has operated residencies across London and meal kits during lockdowns, is to open a first permanent restaurant in an as yet unconfirmed central London location in early 2022. The opening is being backed by MJMK, which has been behind restaurants Casa do Frango and KOL and bars La Rampa, Vinegar Yard and Bar Bolivar.
Vegan pizzeria chain Purezza has continued a rollout with a new 8,000 square feet restaurant in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. It will join four other sites for the brand in Brighton, Hove, Camden and Bristol.
Boston Tea Party is launching in Torquay, having taken on an old PizzaExpress unit with 160 covers. The brand is also about to open in Leamington Spa and Worthing.
Emilia’s Crafted Pasta, a pasta restaurant with sites in Aldgate and St Katharine Docks, is opening a third location in Wood Wharf in Canary Wharf in the autumn. It will have 70 covers inside and 30 more outside.
Fireaway Pizza is opening in Aylesbury, according to local media. The brand now has more than 80 takeaway sites in the UK.
City and Soho-based noodle bar Koya is opening a new site at Broadway Market. It will be called Koya Ko and is a pared-down, on-the-go version of Koya. It is due to open in September.
The team behind Berber & Q are opening a new restaurant in Queen’s Park called Carmel. Berber & Q already have a grill house in Haggerston and a shawarma bar in Exmouth Market.
To read last week’s new openings round-up, click here.
