Wahaca to open site in Cardiff
Mexican-style casual dining group Wahaca is to open a site in Cardiff this autumn, its first outside of London and the South East.
Located in the city's St David's shopping centre, which first opened in 2009, the two-storey, 5,600 sq ft venue is on the site of a former branch of shoe shop LK Bennett. It will also have an outdoors seating area.
It will serve the restaurant group's usual menu, which includes starters such as corn chips with guacamole, mains such as quesadillas, tacos and burritos, sides such as frijoles and grilled corn, and desserts such as churros with dark chocolate sauce. There is also an extensive tequila menu, plus mocktails and coffee, and it also serves gluten-free options.
Founded in 2008 by MasterChef 2005 winner Thomasina Miers and her business partner Mark Selby, Wahaca now has 12 restaurants in and around London, including St Paul's, Canary Wharf, the Southbank, Waterloo, Soho, Wimbledon and the Bluewater shopping centre, Kent. It also runs two "Mexican Street Kitchens" in the Southbank and Canary Wharf.
Commenting on the new opening, Miers said: "Cardiff is a young, vibrant city with a fantastic concentration of retail and leisure. We are delighted to be opening our first regional restaurant and are confident that the people of Cardiff will love our fresh, sustainable Mexican offer."
The new site is part of the shopping centre's continuing growth, which has seen at least one new tenant enter the complex every month for the past year.
Other restaurant outlets at the venue include Café Rouge, Carluccio's, Chimichanga, Ed's Easy Diner, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Prezzo, Yo! Sushi, TGI Friday's and Jamie's Italian, alongside café brands such as Costa, Pret A Manger, Love Coffee and Krispy Kreme.
Wahaca has grown considerably in the past year, posting a 54% rise in turnover in March (alongside a sevenfold boost in profits). Miers has also recently announced a new venture, a Mexico-US diner, to open in London's Shoreditch in July.
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