This summer Red’s True Barbecue bucked the trend of southern restaurants heading to Manchester (Hawksmoor, Iberica, Burger & Lobster etc) by bringing a northern-only operation to the big smoke. Now this chain of US-inspired, dude food emporia has announced the acquisition of another new site, opening in Liverpool in November.
The building, on Hanover Street, a former furniture shop, is just to the back of the iconic Liverpool One development. It will undergo an extensive £1.1m refurb (the London site had £1.4m thrown at it) and will vaunt 150-covers, split over two floors, and a standalone bar. Founders Scott Munro and James Douglas clearly aren’t short of a bob or two since securing a £5m debt and equity through Santander UK to help with rapid expansion.
Designer du jour Russell Sage will consult on the interior design (as he did with the equally enormous Shoreditch venue).
The smokehouse restaurant group was founded in 2012 in Leeds by Munro and Douglas and has since opened a second Leeds venue (in Headingley) as well as outposts in Manchester and Nottingham.
The pair have brought a group of industries execs onboard to advise on their plans for growth including: Ian Neill, Jamie Barber (Cabana), Stephen Wall (Pho), Brandon Stephens (Tortilla), Maurice Abboudi (K10), Dom Lake (Canteen), and retail entrepreneurs Aarish Patel and Sunny Gill, according to Caterer & Hotelkeeper.
