Yalla Yalla, the highly acclaimed Lebanese restaurant concept that serves a take on Beirut street food, is planning to open two new A1 mezze bar sites and a further restaurant in the next six to eight months as it targets an estate of 10 units in central London.
The group, which currently operates three sites in the capital plus a pop-up unit on London’s Southbank Centre this summer, is understood to be close to securing an A1 site near Charlotte Street for its takeaway-style format that was launched at King’s Cross earlier this year, with an opening scheduled for October.
It is also in talks regarding a further A1 site in Covent Garden as it looks to ramp up brand awareness, with an opening for this outket scheduled for the end of the first quarter next year. It has retained property advisor DeVono to aid its expansion drive.
Barry Hilton, operations director, told M&C Report that the group, which is led by Agnieszka Ilska and her ex-Kenza chef partner Jad Youssef, is focusing on A1 sites for the time being as competition for A3 sites in London remains fierce.
He said: “At present we are looking at opening sites of about 800sq ft but we would still like to open more A3 sites and are currently looking at a further site near Covent Garden
“We are also looking at securing a central kitchen facility for our butchery and bakery functions. We recently missed out on a space near our Winsley Street site but are confident of securing something soon to allow us support a further roll out of the brand.”
