Junkyard Golf Club has opened its new crazy golf course, bar and restaurant at the Liverpool ONE development as the trend for competitive social concepts continues. The 17,000 square feet site has four bars including a ‘Bunker bar’ with food, and is the fifth Junkyard site in the UK, after London, Manchester, Oxford and Leeds. Sophie Larissa Houghton, national PR & events manager, said: “We are thrilled to continue our UK expansion in the well-connected destination, and believe the opening will complement the buzz and excitement of the city.” Alison Clegg, director of asset management at Grosvenor Europe, said: “Junkyard Golf Club is an innovative and dynamic concept, and a second-to-none addition for Liverpool ONE.”
The Botanist opened its latest bar and restaurant at the Octagon on Milsom Place on Monday (25 March). The 8,000 square feet site is the 18th Botanist venue so far.
Franco Manca has applied to open on Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester, local media report—its first restaurant in the city. Its application shows a 130-cover restaurant with basement bar. The brand has meanwhile just opened by St Paul’s Cathedral and the London Stock Exchange, and is lining up a launch in Greenwich shortly.
BrewDog opens two new bars on Stoke Newington Road in Dalston and Peterhead in Scotland on Friday (29 March). It is also launching in Paris on the same day.
Upmarket fried chicken concept Chick’n is opening on Wardour Street in Soho, in a unit previously occupied by Brgr. The new restaurant joins the original Chick’n on Baker Street. The brand is run by the team behind Chick ‘n’ Sours, which has three restaurants in Haggerston, Islington and Seven Dials.
Nando’s has set 17 April for the opening of its new 113-cover restaurant in Reigate in Surrey. It has taken on a restaurant unit previously occupied by Prezzo.
A new all-day pan-Asian café concept called Bambusa opened on Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia this week. It is the first café site from Rohit Chugh, founder of Roti Chai in Marylebone and Chai Ki in Canary Wharf. Bambusa is open from 8am to 6pm for breakfast, coffee and lunch, and has ten seats as well as the core on the go offer. Deliveries will start in early May.
US-based restaurant chain Nathan’s Famous has submitted plans to move into the UK by opening a site in Bournemouth. It has previously set out plans to launch in Southampton. Nathan’s Famous was founded as a hot dog stand on Coney Island in the US in 1916, and now has around 300 restaurants in the US, as well as franchised operations in Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean and a large retail network.
A Jamaican jerk and fried chicken concept called Jamaya has opened at the Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull. The 1,800 square feet unit has 65 covers and is in the Upper Jubilee area of Touchwood.
Café de Pierre, a brand run by the team behind Caffe Concerto, has launched in Debenhams stores in locations including London, Stevenage, Chelmsford and Liverpool, and will soon open in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. It has taken over concessions previously run by Patisserie Valerie.
Staffordshire-based Titanic Brewery has submitted plans to open a new bar and café in Newport in Shropshire. It intends to refurbish an old bank building on the town’s high street.
Asian restaurant group Oodles Chinese opens in Nottingham this weekend—a seventh site. It plans to open another ten restaurants by the end of next year.
Hollywood Bowl opened a venue at the Intu Lakeside development. It has a US-style diner restaurant and bar as well as bowling lane and amusement area.
Shake Shack reopened its original UK site on Covent Garden on Thursday (28 March), following a refurbishment.
