Mongolian Barbeque expands its empire
Restaurant chain Mongolian Barbeque is turning up the heat, with more outlets planned for the UK, the USA and Europe.
The chain's 11th UK restaurant, a 50-seat unit in London's Waterloo, opened last week. A few days later, managing director Matthew Kirby flew to Barcelona to view a potential franchise site.
The restaurants - where customers choose their own ingredients, then take them to be cooked on a large griddle - will make their UK debut outside London in December. A 90-seat outlet is to open in Camberley, Surrey, and an 80-seat unit in Cambridge.
Three weeks ago, Mongolian Barbeque opened its fourth outlet in the USA. The 160-seat restaurant in Okemos, Michigan, is already exceeding targets.
"We put that down as a $40,000-a-week turnover unit. They're doing $55,000 and it doesn't seem to have abated," said Mr Kirby.
Okemos is the first franchised operation in the USA. Two more franchises will open next year: in Richmond, Virginia, in May and in Georgetown, Washington, in July. Two directly owned sites, in Chicago and Detroit, open next March and May respectively.
Mr Kirby said he hoped to double his firm's US turnover, including franchise income, to $20m by the end of next year. Expansion will be through franchises and owned sites.
"The market in the USA is massive; we've just touched the tip of the iceberg. The value for money and the participation is very appealing to people," he claimed.
An average Mongolian Barbeque in the USA is double the size of a UK site and turns round tables four or five times in an evening. However, average spend per head is £10, compared with £16 in the UK. "These guys are not really eating out like we do. We treat it as exciting; these guys are just grazing," said Mr Kirby.
Expansion in the UK would be mainly through franchising, Mr Kirby added. He is currently talking to potential franchisees in Leeds, Manchester and Cardiff.
The chain opened a site in Dublin in August (Caterer, 5 September) and plans further outlets in Ireland. Mr Kirby is also keen to move into the rest of Europe.
