Wahaca (phonetic spelling of the Mexican State of Oaxaca) is a UK restaurant group selling Mexican-style street food, co-founded by Thomasina Miers, with 14 branches in the United Kingdom.
Wahaca (phonetic spelling of the Mexican State of Oaxaca) is a UK restaurant group selling Mexican-style street food, co-founded by Thomasina Miers, with 14 branches in the United Kingdom.
Miers opened the first branch in Chandos Place, London in August 2007, focused on Mexican street food. [1] In October 2008 a second Wahaca opened at Westfield in London. [2] Two further branches in Canary Wharf and Soho followed in 2011, and Wahaca launched its first mobile street kitchen. In 2012 it opened its Top One Wahaca Southbank Experiment. In September 2015 Wahaca opened its first restaurant in the north west, based in Manchester. [3]
In July 2016 Wahaca launched its "at home" range. [4] [5] [6]
In October 2016, Wahaca opened its first restaurant in Scotland, in central Edinburgh.
As of December 2017, Wahaca had 25 branches, [7] up from 19 branches in September 2015. They also had three bars and two street kitchen locations. [7]
In November 2017, Wahaca used the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead as the basis for a three-day festival to promote their business. [8] [9] [10]
In August 2020, Wahaca announced that it would close ten of its 28 restaurants due to a downturn in business caused by the coronavirus pandemic. [11] As part of the restructuring the following Wahaca restaurants were permanently closed: Bluewater (Kent), Bristol, Brixton (London), Charlotte Street (London), Chichester, Manchester, Liverpool, Kentish Town (London), Southampton, and St Paul’s (London). [12]
In November 2020, Dick Enthoven, owner of Nandos, bought a £4m majority stake in Wahaca's parent company, Oaxaca Ltd. Wahaca entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), in which shareholders and lenders agreed to write off £25m of debt while injecting £5m into the restaurant chain. [13] [14]
In April 2023, Wahaca announced that it would no longer serve steak with a view to reducing its carbon footprint. [15]
Wahaca has won awards for its food, design, and sustainability. [16] In 2016, co-founders Mark Selby and Thomasina Miers were voted restaurateurs of the year by Caterer Magazine. [17]
In 2016, Wahaca became the first restaurant group in the UK to be certified as carbon neutral. [18]
In November 2016, Wahaca restaurants primarily in London, but also in other locations including Manchester, were suspected as the source of a norovirus outbreak leading to 1000 people falling ill, with symptoms including vomiting. [19] In response, Wahaca temporarily closed nine outlets and apologised to those who had been unwell. [20]
In June 2019, Wahaca was criticised for making serving staff pay part of the bills of customers who left without paying. Following a backlash on social media, they changed the policy. [21]
Tesco plc is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen in Hackney, London in 1919. In 2011, it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in the world measured by revenues. It has shops in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It is the market leader of groceries in the UK.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., often known simply as Chipotle, is an international chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in Tex-Mex cuisine salads, tacos, and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. As of June 30, 2024, Chipotle has 3,500 restaurants. Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.
Nando's is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo depicts the Rooster of Barcelos, one of Portugal's most common symbols. The company was wholly owned by Dick Enthoven until his death in 2022, and is now owned by the family.
Jamie Trevor Oliver MBE OSI is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants.
Walkabout is an Australian themed pub and restaurant chain in the United Kingdom, owned by Stonegate Pubs since December 2016.
Christopher Richard Stein, is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. The business has a number of renowned restaurants, shops and hotels in Padstow along with other restaurants in Marlborough, Winchester and Barnes. He is also the head chef and a co-owner of the "Rick Stein at Bannisters" restaurants in Mollymook and Port Stephens in Australia, with his second wife, Sarah. He writes cookery books and has presented numerous cookery series for the BBC.
Westquay is a shopping centre in Southampton, England. It has an area of 95,600 m2 (1,029,000 sq ft) of retail and leisure space and contains around 130 shops, including major retailers such as John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Zara, Schuh, Waterstones, Hollister Co. and Apple.
The Ivy is a British restaurant founded in 1917 known for its popularity with celebrities. The original restaurant's location in the West End, opposite the Ambassadors and St Martin's theatres, made it a popular restaurant for theatregoers. The Ivy has since expanded into various locations across the United Kingdom and Ireland, known as the Ivy Collection.
Noma is a three-Michelin-star restaurant run by chef René Redzepi, and co-founded by Claus Meyer, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The name is a syllabic abbreviation of the two Danish words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food). Opened in 2003, the restaurant is known for its focus on foraging, invention and interpretation of New Nordic Cuisine. In 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2021 it was ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine.
Thomasina Jean Miers, OBE is an English cook, writer and television presenter. She is the co-founder of the Wahaca chain of Mexican street food restaurants.
Jason Atherton is an English chef and restaurateur. His flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social gained a Michelin Star in 2011, its opening year. He was the Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay's Michelin starred Maze in London until 30 April 2010. In 2014 he co-hosted the Sky Living TV series My Kitchen Rules.
Galvin at Windows is a restaurant located on the top floor of the London Hilton on Park Lane restaurant. Launched in May 2006 by Chef Patron Chris Galvin as the second restaurant from the Galvin Brothers, the restaurant was awarded its Michelin Star in 2007 and maintained it until 2020 when they lost the single star.
Adam Peter Ritchie Handling is a British chef and restaurateur. He is the owner of the Adam Handling Restaurant Group of four food and drink venues in London, England.
Wasabi is a fast food restaurant chain based in the United Kingdom, focused on Japanese, East Asian-inspired fast food, especially sushi and bento, and operating primarily in London, England, with further branches elsewhere in England as of 2022. Wasabi was founded in London in 2003 by Dong Hyun Kim, a South Korean entrepreneur. In November 2019, Henry Birts joined as CEO.
Dishoom is a small Bombay (Mumbai)-inspired restaurant group with locations throughout the UK.
Côte Restaurants Group Limited, trading as Côte, stylised as CÔTE is a French-style British restaurant chain founded by Richard Caring, Andy Bassadone, Chris Benians and Nick Fiddler in Wimbledon, London in 2007. There are now over 84 restaurants in the UK.
Purezza is a vegan pizzeria operating in Brighton, London and Manchester. It is Europe's first all-vegan pizzeria, opening its first branch in Brighton, UK, in November 2015.
Handmade Burger Co is a restaurant chain in the United Kingdom serving beef, chicken and vegetable burgers.
Santiago Lastra is a Mexican chef and co-owner of KOL Restaurant in Marylebone, London.
Mike Reid, is a British chef known as a co-host of two Australian cooking television series, My Market Kitchen and Ten Minute Kitchen. He is also starring as a judge on Five Star Kitchen on Channel 4 in the UK and Netflix globally.
