Loungers has confirmed plans for eight more Lounge openings in the next three months. It will launch in Bromley next week, with Bolton, Tenterden and Brierley Hill to follow in January. There are openings in Preston, Rayleigh and Workington in February, and Sale in March. Lounges have also opened in the last fortnight in Tynemouth and Washington.
The Fulham Shore group’s new Super Club Roma brand opened its first location at the Westfield Stratford centre this week. It is a pizza-based sister concept to Fulham Shore’s Franco Manca brand, and replaces The Real Greek, which has moved elsewhere in the Westfield centre.
PizzaExpress opened the first location for its new grab-and-go concept called Pod this week. It is located by the Tesco Extra store in Southampton. More Pod sites are scheduled to follow in 2025.
The Big Table Group’s Bella Italia brand will shortly open at the Valley Leisure Park in Croydon. 
Gail’s will open on New Street in Birmingham in mid-January. It has also just launched in nearby Solihull.
Five Guys opened its latest new restaurant on the High Street in Winchester this week.
Pasta Evangelists has opened at Terminal 2 in Manchester airport—its first location in a travel hub, and the first with a breakfast offer.
Sticks ‘n’ Sushi has just opened at the Electric Boulevard at the Battersea Power Station. It is its 15th UK restaurant.
The Heartwood Collection has just opened the Royal Forest in Epping Forest in Essex. The venue comprises of a pub with 80 covers, a brasserie with a capacity of 140 and 28 bedrooms. Heartwood’s pipeline of openings in 2025 include Marlow and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Wingstop has opened a new 2,800 square feet restaurant in the Broadway in Bradford. It is also planning to open in Walthamstow in London before the end of the year.
Slim Chickens, the US brand operated in the UK by Boparan Restaurant Group, opened at the Designer Outlet in Ashford this week, in a unit previously occupied by Comptoir Libanais. It is also about to open on Brunel Square in Bath. Slim Chickens now has more than 60 restaurants in the UK.
The Big Mamma group has launched its first site outside London—the La Bellezza restaurant at the Chamberlain Square development in Birmingham. It has taken on a unit previously run by Vinoteca. Big Mamma now has six sites, five of them in London.
Leeds-based Indian restaurant operator Tharavadu is launching a new restaurant concept called UYARE at the Victoria Leeds centre in January. The 7,000
square feet site will have 180 covers.
Burger King has received approval to open a large new restaurant on The Strand in London.
Asian-inspired café concept Nagare Coffee is about to launch a second site on Newburgh Street off Carnaby Street in London’s Soho. The original Nagare is in Spitalfields.
East of England pub group Chestnut is opening in Ringstead in Norfolk after acquiring the Gin Trap Inn there.
Pret a Manger has just opened a new site under franchise on Cambridge Street in Sheffield.
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To read the previous new openings round-up, click here.
