A second branch of Dundee’s popular Gidi Grill restaurant will open in City Square next week, with tables already filling up.
Owner Mobolaji (Mo) Adeniyi is launching a new restaurant in the former Italian Grill unit in City Square.
The opening comes as an addition to their City Quay restaurant, which opened in March 2018.
The new eatery will be Gidi Grill’s third since Mo announced a second branch in Aberdeen earlier this year, with plans to open units in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the future.
Italian Grill closure
Previous occupiers of the central unit, Italian Grill, closed in May – just over a month after they reopened in March following a U-turn in plans to officially close the restaurant earlier in the same month.
Mo said the restaurant will differ from their City Quay offering, with more of a focus on street food and take away.
But fans will be pleased to know the new restaurant will still feature some classic customer favourites.
The restaurant will officially open to the public early next week, with a soft launch taking place this week to allow staff to ease into the new space.
‘I’ve got bookings like crazy already’
Mo said bookings are already flying in, with the new restaurant already fully booked for its soft launch.
He said: “I’ve got bookings like crazy already.
“I’m fully booked as I am and there’s graduation so there’s a target market, so we’re just thinking lets get used to it first.”
The City Quay branch will be closed for a few days while the team focus on the launch of the new restaurant.
As their City Quay restaurant is usually fully booked each night, Mo said they took the decision to open a second, bigger Gidi Grill to allow more people to experience their unique Caribbean cuisine.
“We had so many constraints, it’s not about business doing well, it’s about listening to your customers,” Mo said.
‘Big risk’
“It’s a very big risk and challenge for us but where we were, the old business was too small, we couldn’t really express ourselves.
“If you go on our reviews, 99% of my bad reviews say ‘we didn’t have enough time to enjoy ourselves.
“For the hard work we do I think we deserve to have more people experience our food.”
“We think the city square unit is a good place for a second restaurant – it’s one of the prime places in the city centre.”
Full details of the new City Square restaurant opening will be posted on Gidi Grill’s Facebook page in the coming days.
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