The group, which serves a menu created by former Pachamama head chef Adam Rawson, opened its first pop-up inside Cha Chaan Teng in Holborn in June and currently delivers through UberEats in Hanover Square.
Bite Me Burger Co’s original strategy was to open a permanent restaurant this Autumn, but the group has instead decided to open six delivery-only sites by the end of the year.
It will also launch a further three pop-up restaurants, and is in discussions with a West End department store.
“We’d love our own site, but at the moment we can very quickly and effectively take over in iconic and central London kitchens and access a crowd we’d never be able to if we had to purchase or rent those sites ourselves,” says David Michaels, head of marketing at Bite Me Burger Co.
The brand’s co-founders Roberto and Paolo Manzi are directors of the Bon Appetit catering group, which has 19 kitchens across the capital that will be used to offer delivery across London.
“It’s an aggressive plan but we’re confident it’s the right financial model and it will allow us to invest in staff, development and marketing in a way that we couldn’t if we purchased a site of our own,” says Michaels.
An increasing number of restaurants including Clockjack and K10 are turning to delivery-only sites as a means to expand without the costs associated with launching a full-service restaurant.
Deliveroo is aiming to open 30 delivery-only ‘dark kitchens’ in 10 UK cities by the end of the year through its Deliveroo Editions platform.