Decent chain restaurants?
June 20, 2010 1:24 PM   Subscribe

[UK only] What equivalents are there to Pizza Express and Wagamama for different food types? i.e. ubiquitous, reasonably priced, appeals to all ages, and specialises in one sort of food.
posted by djgh to Food & Drink (17 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
You mean like Hummus Brothers, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Yo Sushi's?
posted by vacapinta at 1:27 PM on June 20, 2010


Nando's, for Portuguese-style chicken.
posted by greycap at 1:27 PM on June 20, 2010


Response by poster: You mean like Hummus Brothers, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Yo Sushi's?

Yep, precisely. Any that you can think of along these lines.
posted by djgh at 1:35 PM on June 20, 2010


Strada for Italian food.
posted by chorltonmeateater at 1:45 PM on June 20, 2010


Cafe Rouge and Loch Fyne also spring to mind.
posted by chorltonmeateater at 1:48 PM on June 20, 2010


Chez Gerard, Itsu, Belgo, Maroush/Ranoush, Gaucho.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:06 PM on June 20, 2010


Masala Zone
posted by Marzipan at 2:16 PM on June 20, 2010


Ping Pong, Ask, Zizzi, Chilango, Carluccio's, Livebait, Sofra, The Real Greek, Masala Zone.

Giraffe doesn't quite fit the bill in the sense that it doesn't have one type of food but otherwise qualifies.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:22 PM on June 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


La Tasca for tapas. Everything else I can think of has been mentioned.

Yum, Nando's...
posted by dumdidumdum at 2:46 PM on June 20, 2010


Bodeans and Spaghetti House are a couple more that spring to mind.
posted by Hates_ at 3:49 PM on June 20, 2010


Nthing Nandos. Nandos, nandos, nandos...

Now I really want chicken.
posted by Artw at 4:31 PM on June 20, 2010


Bella Italia is another common Italian chain. Also Zizzi and Prezzo, but they're both a little less ubiquitous in my experience.

Harvester and Beefeater? Both are pub/carvery restaurant chains.
posted by badmoonrising at 5:25 PM on June 20, 2010


Could you clarify if you're looking for restaurants that are ubiquitous to the UK, or ubiquitous within London? There's a big difference. For example, of the restaurants mentioned so far Hummus Brothers, Chez Gerard, Itsu, Belgo, Maroush, Masala Zone, Ping Pong, Sofra, The Real Greek, Bodeans and Spaghetti House only have locations within the London area.

There's also Las Iguanas for Latin American food, Old Orleans for cajun, Frankie and Benny's for Italian and Chiquito for Mexican.
posted by xchmp at 5:52 PM on June 20, 2010


Wahaca for Mexican food, similar service model and prices to Wagamamas, London only (for now).
posted by Happy Dave at 10:34 PM on June 20, 2010


I think all the obvious chains have been mentioned, except for another London only one (but set to become ubiquitous), which is Busaba for Thai food. It's got Alan Yau (who launched Wagamama) as a director, so it's very much in the same style of consistent (if unadventurous) quality at a decent price.
posted by iivix at 2:44 AM on June 21, 2010


There's a bit of an open competition for this for Burritos. Chilango qualifies. The US Chain Chipotle has entered the market too with a store on Charing Cross, London.
posted by vacapinta at 2:53 AM on June 21, 2010


Response by poster: Could you clarify if you're looking for restaurants that are ubiquitous to the UK, or ubiquitous within London?

Both are fine.

Great answers so far!
posted by djgh at 12:41 PM on June 21, 2010


« Older How can I watch all episodes of Lost: Season 6...   |   Overlooked gems on AppStore? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.