Family favourite food chain with 165 branches to open more restaurants
A HUGE family favourite food chain is set to open even more restaurants.
Fans of the popular chain Wagamama will be thrilled to know that the company is planning on opening more sites in the UK.
The Asian-style food chain already has 165 restaurants across the country.
Its owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) has now revealed to The Sun that it plans to open at least five new sites every year for the next three years.
We have asked where the sites will be located and will update this story when we hear back.
The news comes after it was announced that TRG will be closing dozens of Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito restaurants over the next two years.
Around three of the branches will be turned into Wagamama restaurants.
We have also asked TRG which of the branches will be taken over and will let you know when we know more.
Currently, Wagamama has locations across the country and in most major UK cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Edinburgh.
The chain has 40 restaurants in London alone.
It’s known for its Japanese-style cuisine and is a family favourite for many.
Following the closures of some Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito locations, Russ Mould, an investment director AJ Bell, suggested that TRG focused all its efforts on the better-performing Wagamama instead.
He said: “Focus on Wagamama which is clearly a restaurant brand with genuine appeal.”
He even suggested renaming TRG.
“Rename the business as Wagamama, clear out the rest, and you would have a streamlined and focused operation which might have more appeal to investors,” he said.
The news today comes following a flurry of openings announced across the food sector in recent weeks.
Bakery chain Greggs is set to open 150 new branches this year after opening a record 186 new stores in 2022.
It said it also has plans to relocate 40 shops to new, larger sites and trial a 24-hour drive thru service.
While, coffee giant Starbucks is to open 100 new branches in the UK in 2023.
The high street is also set to see new stores opening too as retailers have also announced openings.
Poundland has confirmed exact opening dates for four new stores across the UK.
And, bargain supermarket Aldi will be opening the doors of nine shops across the country by the end of the year.
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