Zizzi

Last updated

Zizzi Restaurants Limited
Founded1999;25 years ago (1999)
Founders Adam and Sam Kaye [1]
Number of locations
137
(as of September 2023) [2]
Parent Azzurri Central Limited
Website zizzi.co.uk

Zizzi Restaurants Limited, [3] [4] trading as Zizzi, is a chain of Italian-inspired restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is the sister restaurant of ASK Italian, both having been founded by Adam and Sam Kaye. [1] In February 2015, Bridgepoint Capital completed a £250 million acquisition of the two brands. [5] They were subsequently bought by TowerBrook Capital Partners in 2020. [6]

Contents

Locations

Zizzi restaurant in Friar Gate, Derby Zizzi, 16-17 Friar Gate, Derby.jpg
Zizzi restaurant in Friar Gate, Derby
Zizzi restaurant in Pinner, Middlesex Zizzi, Pinner, HA5 (5653110760).jpg
Zizzi restaurant in Pinner, Middlesex

The first Zizzi restaurant opened in Chiswick in 1999. [2] [7] As of March 2022, the Zizzi portfolio includes about 25 London restaurants, as well as locations throughout the United Kingdom (and also Dublin).

On 17 July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Azzurri Group, owner of the Zizzi and ASK Italian chains, announced the closure of 75 restaurants with the loss of up to 1,200 jobs. [8]

Notable incidents

Strand self-harm incident

On 22 April 2007, a 35-year-old Polish man entered the Zizzi restaurant on The Strand and made his way into the kitchen, where he obtained a knife. He then used it to sever his penis in front of diners. [9] Whilst it was initially believed that attempts to re-attach the appendage had been unsuccessful, The Guardian reported later that week that surgeons had, in fact, been able to do so, "in the first operation of its kind in the country", a procedure that was carried out at St Thomas' Hospital after police recovered the penis from the restaurant floor. [10]

Salisbury nerve agent poisoning

The Zizzi in Salisbury was linked to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal since the pair had dined there. Those who had eaten at the restaurant and the nearby Mill Pub on Sunday 4 or Monday 5 March 2018 were advised to take measures such as washing or wiping their personal belongings, even though the risk of harm to other diners was reported to be "low". [11]

Philanthropy

In the summer of 2011, Zizzi began using the Pennies service in all their restaurants to give customers the option to top up their bill with a 20p donation to charity. By March 2012, over £50,000 had been raised for charity, with the majority going to long-standing charity partner The Prince's Trust. Pennies with Zizzi was crowned "Project of the Year" by the Real IT Awards in 2012, also picking up the prize for Corporate, Social and Environmental Responsibility. [12] [ unreliable source? ] In 2020, Zizzi won the Lausanne Index Prize for Novel Product of the Year. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church's Texas Chicken</span> American Chicken restaurant chain

Church's Texas Chicken is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To-Go by George W. Church Sr. on April 17, 1952, in San Antonio, Texas, across the street from The Alamo. Church's Texas Chicken trades as Texas Chicken or Church's Chicken in many countries. The chain is currently owned by American private equity firm High Bluff Capital Partners. As of 2017, Church's Texas Chicken had more than 1,700 franchised and company-owned locations in 26 countries.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando, Florida. As of May 2023, the firm owns three fine dining restaurant chains: Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Eddie V's and The Capital Grille; and six casual dining restaurant chains: Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Yard House and Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. Until July 28, 2014, Darden also owned Red Lobster. Darden has more than 1,800 restaurant locations and more than 175,000 employees, making it the world's largest full-service restaurant company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shari's Cafe & Pies</span> US restaurant chain

Shari's Cafe & Pies, originally known as Shari's Restaurants, is a chain of family dining restaurants in the western United States based in Beaverton, Oregon. Its restaurants are pie-oriented. The franchise's original restaurant was opened in Hermiston, Oregon, in 1978. In mid-2017, the company was operating 95 locations, just one fewer than in the year 2000. As of May 2024, the company operates 74 locations in California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Shari's are known for their familiar hexagonal building design.

P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private equity firm TriArtisan Capital Advisors on March 2, 2019. P. F. Chang's is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qdoba</span> Restaurant chain

Qdoba is a chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada serving Mexican-style cuisine. After 15 years as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box, the company was sold to a consortium of funds led by Apollo Global Management in March 2018. In October 2022, Qdoba was acquired by Butterfly Equity. At the time of the acquisition, Qdoba had nearly 750 locations across North America. It is the No.2 player and No.1 franchisor of Mexican fast-casual dining in North America.

Bridgepoint Group plc is a British private investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Frankie & Benny's is a chain of Italian-American-themed restaurants in the United Kingdom run by The Big Table. As of November 2022, it had 90 outlets nationwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belgo</span> Restaurant in London, UK

Belgo was a chain of London restaurants specializing in simple Belgian cooking and Belgian beer. There were five Belgo restaurants: Belgo Centraal, Belgo Holborn, Belgo Kings Cross, Belgo Nottingham and Belgo Bromley ; following closures announced in July 2020.

Gondola Group was a chain restaurant operator in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It operated several casual dining brands:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pets at Home</span> British pet supply store chain

Pets at Home is a British pet supplies retailer selling pet products including food, toys, bedding, medication, accessories and pets. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Founded in 1991, the company operates 453 stores across the UK, as well as an online store. Pets at Home also provides a range of services such as grooming, veterinary care and dog training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giraffe World Kitchen</span> British restaurant chain

Giraffe is a restaurant chain headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, which was founded in 1998 in Hampstead as Giraffe Restaurants by Juliette Joffe, Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs. Giraffe was owned by its founders, with additional financial backing from private shareholders, 3i investment group and chairman Luke Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASK Italian</span> British casual dining restaurant chain

ASK Italian Restaurants Limited, trading as ASK or ASK Italian, is a British casual dining restaurant chain that serves Italian cuisine in 65 locations in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Care UK</span> United Kingdom home care franchise and provider

Care UK is a provider of residential care for older people. They operate more than 150 homes offering residential care, dementia care, and nursing care. The company formerly also operated a wider range of healthcare services until 2019 when these were split off to Practice Plus Group, private-equity firm Bridgepoint Group retaining ultimate control over both companies.

Pennies is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Its purpose is to encourage and facilitate charitable giving, and to raise funds for a variety of UK registered charities through micro-donations made by customers at the point of sale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theo Randall</span> English chef (born 1967)

Theo Randall is an English chef who specialises in Italian cuisine. He is the proprietor of Theo Randall at the InterContinental Hotel London Park Lane, although he is perhaps best known for being awarded a Michelin star at The River Café in London.

Byron, is a British restaurant chain offering a casual dining service with a focus on hamburgers. The chain was founded in 2007 by Tom Byng. In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the chain closed outlets as part of a deal transferring 21 remaining sites and 551 staff to a new owner, Calveton UK.

The Big Table Group Limited, formerly Tragus Group and Casual Dining Group (CDG), is a hospitality company in the United Kingdom. The Big Table operates restaurants primarily under the Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Frankie & Benny's and Las Iguanas names. It also operates sites under the Banana Tree, Chiquito, Coast to Coast, Firejacks and Filling Station brands. It is owned by Epiris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EG Group</span> British retail group

EG Group is a British operator of filling stations, convenience stores and food service providers across Europe, the United States and Australia. It was founded in Blackburn in 2001 by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, initially as Euro Garages.

Adam Kaye is a British businessman and restaurateur, and the co-founder with his brother Samuel of the ASK Italian casual dining chain. He is an executive director with Everyman Cinemas.

Boojum is an Irish chain of Mexican fast-food restaurants in Ireland. Founded in 2007 by John and Karen Blisard, they operate 17 outlets throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as a "Turbo Boojum" outlet in Dublin. On 10 April 2024, Boojum opened their first store outside of Ireland, in Leeds, England.

References

  1. 1 2 Lutrario, Joe (7 June 2011). "Business Profile: Zizzi". Restaurant. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Find your Local Zizzi Restaurant | Italian Restaurants". Zizzi.
  3. ↑ "ZIZZI RESTAURANTS LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House . 30 September 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Privacy Policy". Zizzi. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "Bridgepoint Completes £250 Million Acquisition of ASK ITALIAN and ZIZZI". Bridgepoint. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  6. ↑ "Azzurri Group acquired in pre-pack by Towerbrook Capital Partners". RPBI OPenings. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  7. ↑ "Greater London Archives". Zizzi.
  8. ↑ "Restaurant chain Zizzi and Ask Italian closing 75 branches". BBC News. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Man cuts off penis in restaurant". BBC News. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Glendinning, Lee (25 April 2007). "Man who cut off penis has it reattached". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Russian spy: Salisbury diners told to wash possessions". BBC News. 11 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "Untitled Prezi". Prezi. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "2020 L.I.P. Novel Product of the Year - Zizzi".


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.