Best non UK food franchise?

[jimmyjimjim]

Fats25 said:

The Cheesecake factory is a good suggestion - BUT - the place needs to be big, and needs to be busy. I have never, ever, seen so much choice of food as on a cheesecake factory menu. I have no idea how they keep it all in stock and available at one time. Seems a risky one.

That's nothing, to be honest.

My favorite diner in NJ has pruned their menu down by about 50% in recent years, but it's still 11 pages.

http://americanadiner.net/menus/

ViperDave said:

Du1point8 said:

Chipotle Mexican Grill

I have wondered how that one would translate myself. They always seem to have a steady flow of traffic in the US and its a simple product with complex options, As in more or less a single price and you can jam whatever you want into your burrito or bowl.

Not sure how popular the burrito concept would be to the pie and chips British public, but you just know in the UK the price would be £10 so too expensive, the self service drinks so common in the US don't seem to work over here and the chavs would be selling the tobasco bottles down the pub before you could even un pack the next box full.

Edited by ViperDave on Tuesday 11th March 09:25

On a similar note, my vote would be Qdoba mexican grill. Prefer it to chipotle.

Freakuk said:

IHOP

And Waffle house. You can never have enough breakfast food.

Also - Garlic Jim's pizza. Quite different than 'regular' pizza.

http://garlicjims.com/


Overall though, Qdoba or Chipotle would probably be the best call for the niche; everything else is either burgers or covered in some way by another chain.

[Fats25]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I had been told the same thing, and I love my tacky restaurants as much as the next man, but I was not impressed with the one I tried at Pier 39 in San Francisco.

[jimmyjimjim]

Cracker Barrel, Rainforest Cafe? (which I note already has a presence in the UK)

Not the food per se, but the idea of a combined restaurant and gift shop.

[Shaoxter]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I went to one at Cancun airport and loved it too.

[markcoznottz]

Shaoxter said:

Du1point8 said:

Maybe... but in london they do a massive trade, most days I can walk past http://tortilla.co.uk/locations/canary-wharf/ and there is queue all the way outside.

You could sell a cardboard burrito for lunch in canary wharf and people would still queue up there. Tortilla isn't that great, Poncho 8 on the other hand

markcoznottz said:

I had a box of sushi from wasabi in London and it was restaurant quality

Not sure if serious...

Trust me it was good, maybe they have good and bad days, but fir boxed sushi it was very good, yo sushi is so bad it's almost comical, it's an insult to call it sushi..

[R I C H]

Tim Hortons, IHOP, Dunkin donuts, Papa Johns, Dairy Queen, Wendy's etc?

You'd welcome those to the UK? Have you got no sense of taste or regard for your health?

Please import them all and remove them from Canada.

[JackReacher]

Frimley111R said:

That surely can't fail in London?

Agreed, I've always thought that a Hooters in central London (west end area) would do a great trade, but I guess the overheads are very high. You'd have to recruit a lot of "models who serve" too

[Slurms]

Busa mav said:

ReallyReallyGood said:

Cheesecake Factory!
.

^^^^

Truly surprised this hasn't entered our shores.

They've been looking at it for a few years, I know a couple of people who've had very serious discussions with them in the past.

Not sure what the current state of it is.

[Matt_N]

Häagen-Dazs ice cream parlours, always one abroad but don't think I've seen any over here? No doubt London has one though.

[Shaoxter]

Matt_N said:

Häagen-Dazs ice cream parlours, always one abroad but don't think I've seen any over here? No doubt London has one though.

There's one in Leicester Square but I'm not a fan. Their recipe seems to involve putting as much sugar as physically possible into each dessert.

Reminds me of this:

[Devilstreak]

Frimley111R said:

r4dcu said:

Just me thinking this??

http://www.hooters.com/Home/Default.aspx

Just the 1 currently in Nottingham, unsure if others have tried and failed...

That surely can't fail in London?

I don't know how these aren't more widespread in England!

I go probably twice a month and it is never quiet. Always great food(for what it is) and service and the view isn't bad either.

[Carlton Banks]

Kati Roll

[HereBeMonsters]

I would drive hundreds of miles for another In-n-Out burger. OMG.

[Alfa numeric]

A couple from Australia:

Red Rooster do roast chicken (complete with stuffing ) in a style similar to KFC, but much, much nicer.

Harry's is very famous in Sydney for its pies- more specifically it's Tiger, which is a pie with a scoop of mashon top, then mushy peas on that, then a lake of gravy to top it off. They're great, and usually the first place we go when my Wife is visiting family out there.

[HereBeMonsters]

Matt_N said:

Häagen-Dazs ice cream parlours, always one abroad but don't think I've seen any over here? No doubt London has one though.

Yes, they expanded massively across the UK in the late 90s, but were mostly gone again by the mid-2000s. I worked in the one in Reading while I was still at school.

[Carlton Banks]

HereBeMonsters said:

Matt_N said:

Häagen-Dazs ice cream parlours, always one abroad but don't think I've seen any over here? No doubt London has one though.

Yes, they expanded massively across the UK in the late 90s, but were mostly gone again by the mid-2000s. I worked in the one in Reading while I was still at school.

Leicester Square?

[HereBeMonsters]

Carlton Banks said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Matt_N said:

Häagen-Dazs ice cream parlours, always one abroad but don't think I've seen any over here? No doubt London has one though.

Yes, they expanded massively across the UK in the late 90s, but were mostly gone again by the mid-2000s. I worked in the one in Reading while I was still at school.

Leicester Square?

Is that still there? I don't remember seeing it when I was last in the area. I was drunkenly piloting a Boris bike around drunken tourist pedestrians, so I may well have missed it...

[liller]

There are already 3 Chipotle restaurants (that I know of) in London. They always seem to be busy and I go there fairly regularly. Great food, good range of tabasco and reasonably priced.. All good!

[Frimley111R]

lepetitoeuf said:

I don't see Mexican food being a big earner for the long run. It's popular at this moment in time, but is, and always has been much more popular in America, which is not surprising considering America's proximity to Mexico.

Err, ever heard of Chiquitos??

[R0nin]

Frimley111R said:

Err, ever heard of Chiquitos??

+ http://www.chimichanga.co.uk/