Restaurants pull out of city centre street after deals fail
TWO major restaurant chains have pulled out of plans to open new venues in the same Birmingham city centre street after failing to agree deals with the landlords.
Jackson & Rye and Wahaca had each planned to launch in Temple Street but their muchanticipated moves to the city have now been put on hold indefinitely.
New York-inspired speakeasy restaurant chain Jackson and Rye lodged plans to renovate a former beauty salon in Somerset House in what would have been the group’s first foray into a city outside of London.
A spokeswoman for Jackson and Rye said: “We didn’t come to an agreement with the landlord so unfortunately had to walk away from the deal.”w
A spokesman for Circle Property, which owns Somerset House, added: “The leisure unit next to Las Iguanas at Somerset House is under offer to a national brewery chain which is planning an exciting new offer for Birmingham city centre. We look forward to announcing further details in due course.”
Mexican chain Wahaca earmarked a site at 13 Temple Street in March.
Wahaca received planning permission to convert a basement and ground floor property previously occupied by TSB Bank into a bar and restaurant, serving Mexican street market small plates and cocktails.
The popular chain, cofounded by 2005 Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers, also confirmed it had pulled out.
“Sadly, we couldn’t reach an agreement with the landlord and are back to looking for new sites as we’d love to open up one day,” a Wahaca spokeswoman said.
Wahaca, founded by Ms Miers and Marl Selby, proved phenomenally successful with Londoners when it opened its first branch in Covent Garden in 2007. Since then, it has launched 23 branches across the UK, including Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff.