The group has chosen St Martins Courtyard in Covent Garden, Westfields and St. Albans as the sites to introduce adapted menus not available at its other restaurants.
Launching on 29 January, the St Albans restaurant will be the first to reopen. It will be followed by the two London sites, which will open in early February.
The sites have been fitted with seated bar areas, where menus of new dips and snacks will be available.
At the two London sites, small plates will be added to the menus, and at St Albans there will be sharing dinner dishes for family dining.
New breakfast dishes available across the test sites will include an acai smoothie bowl and an apple and cinnamon waffle.
Alongside the brand’s existing brunch menu, new dishes have been added including meatballs; goats cheese rice balls; a steak and blue cheese sandwich; and an ancient grain bowl.
The evening menu across all three sites will serve specials, changing daily, including the likes of wild boar sausages with apple mash, and the two London sites will serve a ‘fritto misto’.
“We have sought to build on the solid foundation of our existing estate by adding more 'wow' factors across a range of guest touchpoints from crockery to menu options and uniform to furniture,” says Mark Fox, CEO of Bill’s Restaurants.
“We have deliberately chosen three very different locations to test how we can adapt to different audiences and local environments.”
As a response to a hostile industry climate, many operators are changing their formats in an attempt to attract new trade.
Paul Rawlinson, director of popular Harrogate restaurant Norse, posted a blog earlier this month, admitting that he had been struggling behind the scenes and was changing the restaurant’s format in an attempt to stay afloat.
The restaurant is now distancing itself from the Scandinavian small plates that brought it such acclaim in favour of a more traditional menu style. The menu now comprises simply starters, mains and desserts with a selection of sides, described as ‘modern food using Yorkshire produce’.