Casual dining - Hospitality

Burger & Lobster expands Smack Lobster concept

28-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

Burger & Lobster is to launch its delivery-only Smack Lobster Roll concept in a third London location this week.

Breddos closes Soho restaurant [updated]

28-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

Breddos Tacos has closed its restaurant in London's Soho after less than two years of trading.

Busaba set for rebrand around 20th anniversary

24-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

Thai restaurant group Busaba is undergoing a rebrand around its 20th anniversary in a bid to remain distinct in a crowded casual dining market.

YO! to trial grab and go concept in Manchester

23-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

YO! is to trial an express format restaurant designed for customers on the go.

Hedge funds circle PizzaExpress

21-Oct-2019 By James McAllister

A hedge fund that shared a multibillion-pound bounty after making bets on the collapsed Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers is among those reportedly circling debt-laden dining chain PizzaExpress.

Bill's posts £9.1m loss, but says turnaround has begun

21-Oct-2019 By Finn Scott-Delany

Bill's Restaurants made a £9.11m loss last year – but has returned to above market like-for-like sales growth across its estate following a major refurbishment programme.

Nando's to open third express format restaurant

18-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

Nando’s is to launch a third London site under its Nando’s Nino express format, designed for takeaway or delivery.

Big Mamma eyes Covent Garden for third London restaurant

17-Oct-2019 By Stefan Chomka

Big Mamma restaurant group, which is behind recently launched London venues Gloria and Circolo Popolare, plans to open a third restaurant in the capital, in Covent Garden.

Generation Next: how Berto is hoping to grow with its innovative pasta

17-Oct-2019 By Finn Scott-Delany

The team behind boundary-stretching pizza concept Zia Lucia have now set their sights on pasta with the launch of Berto.

Megan's signs on seventh London restaurant

15-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

All-day brunch restaurant chain Megan’s is to open its seventh London site in January 2020.

PizzaExpress says 95% of its UK estate is profitable

14-Oct-2019 By James McAllister

PizzaExpress says that 95% of its restaurants in the UK and Ireland are profitable after it was suggested that two in every five are at risk of closure.

Modern Turkish restaurant Baraka set for Broadgate

10-Oct-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Modern Turkish restaurant Baraka will open its first eatery at British Land’s Broadgate development in central London next month.

Flash-grilled: Ben McKellar

04-Oct-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Largely Brighton and Hove-based chef restaurateur Ben McKellar runs a total of five venues including fine dining restaurant the Gingerman and recently launched small plates restaurant The Flint House.

Latest opening: Baozilnn London Bridge

04-Oct-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Sichuanese restaurateur Shao Wei is pushing ahead with his rollout of his most casual restaurant brand with a flagship site close to Borough Market.

The Ivy to replace Jamie's Italian in London Victoria

04-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

The Ivy Collection has confirmed it is to open in London Victoria this winter after taking on the former Jamie’s Italian site.

Profits fall at Rick Stein's hospitality empire

03-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

Profits at Rick Stein’s hospitality empire halved in 2018, with the company blaming rising business rates and wage costs.

Prezzo reports £29m loss following CVA

03-Oct-2019 By Sophie Witts

Prezzo saw operating losses halve to £29.7m in 2018 after closing nearly 100 restaurants under a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

Elizabeth Haigh to top the bill at The Borough Market Kitchen

03-Oct-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Former Pidgin chef Elizabeth Haigh is to launch a Singaporean counter restaurant in The Borough Market Kitchen, an upcoming communal eating space housing 25 street food stalls in the famed central London market.

Dishoom to open in Birmingham

02-Oct-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Dishoom will open its third restaurant outside London early next year within Birmingham’s £700m Paradise development.

The chips are down: Hipchips to close Soho site

27-Sep-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Crisp and dips restaurant Hipchips will soon close its Soho site to focus on its growing retail business.

William Reed launches Low 2 No Bev Show

27-Sep-2019 By Joe Lutrario

BigHospitality and Restaurant magazine publisher William Reed has unveiled a new trade show designed to support the growth of the burgeoning low to no beverage sector.

Arma to open on former Oliver Maki site

27-Sep-2019 By James McAllister

A grab and go Middle Eastern concept is set to open on the former Oliver Maki site in Soho early next month.

UK restaurant market facing fastest decline in seven years

24-Sep-2019 By James McAllister

The UK restaurant market is set to contract -3.1% to £18.8bn in 2019, its fastest decline in seven years.

Thinking outside the lunch box

19-Sep-2019 By Tony Naylor

Lunch visits are falling in frequency, but are there ways restaurants can work around, or with, this change in customer habits?

YO! launches YO! Kitchen concept with table service

18-Sep-2019 By Sophie Witts

YO! has launched its first full-service restaurant concept as it looks to further pivot away from its famous conveyor belt sushi.

Sticks’n’Sushi to finally open Soho restaurant

17-Sep-2019 By James McAllister

Sushi and yakitori restaurant group Sticks'n'Sushi is finally set to open its Soho site next month, more than 18 months after it was first mooted.

More than 1,400 UK restaurants have closed in the last year

16-Sep-2019 By James McAllister

The number of restaurants falling into insolvency has increased by 25% in the last year, according to accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.

Call for clearer menu allergen labels after Byron death [updated]

13-Sep-2019 By Sophie Witts

The family of a teenager with a dairy allergy who died after eating a Byron burger has called for a change in the law.

Abokado launches CVA blaming 'bank fraud' and sales decline

11-Sep-2019 By James McAllister

London healthy eating chain Abokado is the latest restaurant group to launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

Tom Kerridge’s The Bull & Bear to open in Manchester on 15 November

10-Sep-2019 By Stefan Chomka

Tom Kerridge’s Manchester restaurant will be called The Bull & Bear when it opens in the city’s Stock Exchange Hotel on 15 November.

Byron facing questions over allergen death

09-Sep-2019 By Sophie Witts

An inquest in to the death of a teenager who died after eating at a Byron burger restaurant is to resume this week.

Firebrand Pizza to open second site with new concept

06-Sep-2019 By Sophie Witts

London’s Firebrand Pizza is to open a second restaurant and launch a café bar concept, named Diggs, in Clerkenwell this autumn.

Dodo Pub Co to open fifth pub restaurant

04-Sep-2019 By Stefan Chomka

Oxford-based Dodo Pub Co will open its fifth venue in the south of England, in Reading, in October.

Former The Samling chef Ian Swainson opens Amarillo in Brighton

03-Sep-2019 By Finn Scott-Delany

Former The Pass and The Samling chef Ian Swainson has launched a new venture in Brighton.

The Restaurant Group earmarks 42 further sites for potential closure

03-Sep-2019 By Sophie Witts

The Restaurant Group (TRG) says it has identified a further 42 “structurally unattractive” restaurants in its Leisure division which it may look to close in future.

Restaurant radar: September 2019

02-Sep-2019 By Restaurant

From Jason Atherton's latest restaurant to the launch of street food collective KERB's first permanent site and Lewis Hamilton's new plant-based burger chain, here are September's key openings.

Hampshire-based Josie's to open fourth restaurant

02-Sep-2019 By Stefan Chomka

Hampshire-based all-day restaurant group Josie’s will open a fourth site later this year, in Romsey in Hampshire.

Bristol chef Larkin Cen to explore Cantonese roast meats

02-Sep-2019 By Joe Lutrario

Bristol-based chef Larkin Cen is to re-open his Woky Ko: Kauto restaurant on Queens Road as Cantonese roast meat restaurant Woky Ko: Jing Xu early this month.

Ozone to open second London site

30-Aug-2019 By James McAllister

Kiwi coffee specialist Ozone is to open its second London location in Bethnal Green in early October, seven years after launching in the capital.

Vivi closes at Centre Point after six months blaming 'low footfall'

30-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

Vivi, the flagship restaurant at London’s Centre Point development, has closed after six months of trading.

PizzaExpress to roll out redesign to 15 further restaurants

29-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

PizzaExpress says it has scaled back expansion and is focusing on upgrading its existing UK restaurants in the face of “intense competition” in the casual dining market.

Robin Rowland to leave YO! after 20 years

28-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

Robin Rowland is to step down from the board at Japanese food group YO! after a 20-year tenure.

Pi Pizza sold out of pre-pack administration

27-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

The Pi Pizza restaurant group has been bought out of pre-pack administration, saving its two sites.

Rolling stock: Mathew Carver on his conveyor belt cheese restaurant

23-Aug-2019 By Joe Lutrario

The Cheese Truck and The Cheese Bar founder will open Pick & Cheese at KERB’s Seven Dials Market early next month.

Busaba Eathai earnings rise after closing regional sites

23-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

Thai restaurant group Busaba Eathai’s earnings are back in the black after the closure of all its sites outside London.

Seven things we learned from Jamie Oliver's documentary

22-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

Jamie Oliver has opened up about the demise of his restaurant group and his rocky relationship with Marco Pierre White in a new programme.

Tonkotsu set to add two more London sites to portfolio

22-Aug-2019 By James McAllister

Ramen restaurant chain Tonkotsu is set to open its 10th London site in Peckham next month, with plans to open an 11th in Shoreditch in October.

Cabana's London restaurants saved as administrators called in

19-Aug-2019 By Sophie Witts

Restaurateur Jamie Barber has bought five of his Cabana restaurants out of administration, but the group's remaining sites outside London have closed.