Roxie experiments diner formula at new venue

Complementing Roxie’s three existing locations in Fulham, Putney and Earlsfield, the 45-seat new site will offer more limited menu options, with the focus on a £15 ‘Feast for 15’ deal including steak medallions (fillet, ribeye and sirloin) as well as slow-cooked brisket, gravy, a sauce, chips and salad.

Owner Richard Hollway told BigHospitality: “At the moment we’ve got three steak restaurants and they’re very much neighbourhood restaurants – casual but relaxed. This site gets huge foot traffic between Clapham Junction and Northcote Road, so we want to create a more diner formula – very casual bordering on fast casual, and focused around offering extremely good value.”

Value-based offering​

The Battersea site will still offer standalone steaks, but fewer starters and desserts than the existing venues.

“That specific location has a younger crowd, with huge foot traffic. Our opinion is that it’s a good place to offer good value served quickly and casually. Also, we’ve got a very good relationship with our supplier, which gives us the benefit of delivering value, but also means we can utilise and maximise our supply better by offering these platters,” Hollway added.

The restaurant’s interior will remind of an American diner, but with a warmer, more comfortable atmosphere. For example, it will have more wood than most diners. Roxie’s owner described it as “a warmer comfortable diner feel”.

Further expansion​

If the formula does well, Roxie will look at expanding further based on both this format and its original relaxed steak house option, all in London’s south west.

“If the site is similar to this one, we’ll look at putting this diner concept, but we’re also keeping an eye out for neighbourhood places for a more relaxed steak restaurant. These two formats suit us perfectly so it all depends on what comes up,” he said.