Type Private Area served Global Headquarters London, United Kingdom Founded 1992 Parent organization Wagamama Group Ltd | Industry Restaurant Owner Duke Street Capital Founder Alan Yau Number of locations 140 | |
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CEO David Campbell (Sep 2013–) Genre Japanese restaurant + noodle bar Profiles | ||
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Wagamama (stylized as wagamama), a British-headquartered restaurant chain, serving Asian food inspired by the flavours of Japan.
Contents
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History
Created by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese restaurants Hakkasan and Yauatcha in London, the first wagamama opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London.
wagamama opened at a time when few people thought the restaurant sector was worth investing in, although the critical acclaim and commercial success the restaurant received soon changed that belief. The first restaurant in Bloomsbury was designed by Stiff and Trevillion Architects, who were subsequently involved in the design of 10 further restaurants. One of the partners of the architectural practice, Michael Stiff stated, "wagamama really pushed back the boundaries and rejuvenated what had become an extremely jaded industry. As well as being completely different from a design point of view, the prices of the meals were also significantly lower than those of other London restaurants at the time."
In 2005, then-owner Graphite Capital sold a majority stake of 77.5% to Lion Capital LLP for £103 million. In 2011 the chain was sold to Duke Street Capital for an estimated sum of £215M.
In 2013, wagamama opened their 100th restaurant in the converted Hammersmith Fire Station, a 1913 built Grade II listed building at 190-192 Shepherd's Bush Road, Hammersmith, London W6 7NL.
As of April 2016, the chain includes 140+ restaurants, with 120 being in the UK. Other restaurants are located in Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Kuwait, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UAE and the United States.
The first site in Streatham Street, Bloomsbury, London closed permanently on 19 June 2016.
In November 2016 the first New York restaurant opened at 210 Fifth Avenue. The menu in New York has brunch dishes - a first for wagamama.
Brand
The word wagamama (わがまま) is Japanese for "self-indulgent", "self-centered", "selfish", "disobedient" or "willful". wagamama has released 2 cookbooks in order to further extend their brand. wagamama believes in a Japanese philosophy called 'kaizen', which they say 'shapes every dish we create, and pushes us to find better ways in all that we do. We’re restless spirits. Forever creating and making things better'.
Wagamama has a belief in serving fresh food, as soon as it's ready with menus being updated seasonally.
Features
Wagamama has a number of features that have since been adopted by many restaurants. Orders are taken via PDAs, and wirelessly networked to the kitchen. Once orders are taken, food order numbers are written on customers' paper place mats and food is delivered to the table once cooked, which means dishes are not necessarily served at the same time. Customers sit on either side of large tables, seating as many as 16 people at one table.
Environmental record
In November 2015 the chain was one of seven restaurants surveyed that failed to meet a basic level of sustainability in its seafood. However, this was later retracted, as Wagamama revealed more information about the origin of its seafood.