Loungers will open its new Cosy Club bar and restaurant in Guildford on Monday (18 June). It has taken a unit in the Tunsgate Quarter in the town. Loungers now has more than 20 branches of the Cosy Club brand around the country. The company is also lining up an opening on the high street in Prestatyn, according to local media, having applied for change of use of an old bank building.
Rosa’s Thai Café has signed for a 2,500 square feet restaurant in the Plaza in Bluewater in Kent. It will open later in the year after agreeing the deal with Landsec, which says all space In Bluewater is now let or in solicitors’ hands. Rosa’s has 13 restaurants in London and is now starting an expansion beyond the capital, with plans underway to open on Albert Dock in Liverpool too. Managing director Gavin Adair said: “London was a great starting point for us, but we wanted to reach out to an even wider market.”
The City Pub Company has opened a new pub and restaurant at Cambridge railway station. The Old Ticket Office has an all-day menu and takeaway options, plus 16 keg and five cask beers and plans to launch a bottle shop. The City Pub Company already runs seven other pubs in and around Cambridge.
Franco Manca is to open an operation in Debenhams’ flagship Oxford Street store. The 3,000 square feet site will be at the back of the shop. It continues a partnership on openings between Franco Manca and Debenhams.
Honest Burgers has set 2 July for the opening of its new restaurant on Clare Street in Bristol.
Upmarket fried chicken concept Absurd Bird is opening at Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow, according to local media, though an opening date is yet to be set. The new site will add to the brand’s restaurants in Spitalfields and Soho in London, Bath, Exeter and Leeds.
A major new food market is to open on the ground floor of Grand Central on Liverpool’s Renshaw Street at the end of June, the Liverpool Echo reports. Grand Central Bazaar will house 12 independent restaurants, bars and street food operators.
Wagamama opened a 130-cover restaurant at New Mersey Retail Park in Liverpool on Monday (11 June). It is a second restaurant in the city after Liverpool ONE. Wagamama is also set to launch at the McArthur Glen retail outlet in South Normanton in Derbyshire in August.
The Potting Shed Bar & Gardens and Firepit Smokehouse and Sports Bar brands have just opened in Southport. It follows an overhaul of the old Sandgrounder pub in the town. The Burning Night Group, which runs both brands, has five other Potting Shed sites and two other Firepits, all of them in Yorkshire.
Camerons Brewery’s fast-growing Head of Steam craft beer pub brand has applied for permission to open in Cardiff. It wants to convert a just-closed Harvester restaurant unit on Church Street in the city centre. It continues a push into new parts of the country for Head of Steam, which already has venues in Birmingham, Didsbury, Durham, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Newcastle, Norton, Nottingham, Sheffield, Sunderland and Tynemouth.
Arc Inspirations is to reopen its Arc venue in Headingley in Leeds as a branch of its expanding Manahatta brand. The Arc was the group’s first site when it opened 18 years ago, and will relaunch in August after a £500,000 refurb. Manahatta is a New York-style all-day bar and restaurant concept that already has two venues in Leeds. CEO Martin Wolstencroft said: “The Arc holds a special place in our hearts. But all good things must come to an end, and… it was clearly the right time to bring Manahatta to the neighbourhood.”
Vegetarian and vegan restaurant group The Gate is to open a fourth site on Allitsen Road in St John’s Wood in October. The 3,300 square feet unit will join restaurants in Hammersmith, Islington and Marylebone.
The San Carlo restaurant group has opened its new 130-cover site on Regent Street in London.
Polish restaurant and bar operator Mamuska is to open at the Leake Street Arches in Waterloo later in the summer. A first wave of independent operators will launch at the development next week, including Banh Bao Brothers and Rat Bar. Mamuska started out with a restaurant at Elephant & Castle, and has ambitious expansion plans for London.
Five Guys is scheduled to open a new restaurant at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth on 16 July.
US-based Tex Mex brand Taco Bell will open a unit on Manchester’s Deansgate at the end of June as it continues an expansion in the UK under franchise.
London catering company Social Pantry is launching a new restaurant and café called Soane’s Kitchen at the walled garden at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in Ealing in July. The property is currently undergoing a major refurbishment, and the all-day restaurant and café will be part of the new offer. It will have 70 covers, and much of the produce for the menu will be grown in a kitchen garden. Social Pantry founder Alex Head said: “I am delighted to be opening Soane’s Kitchen and Pitzhanger Pantry and introducing Social Pantry to west Londoners.”
Street food and craft beer concept Indian Brewery will open on Station Road in Solihull in August. It will be a second site for the brand, which already operates in Snow Hill in Birmingham.
