Member Article

Eldon Square’s £25m catering quarter attracts trio of restaurants new to the UK

Three restaurant brands new to the UK will soon open in Newcastle as part of intu Eldon Square’s £25m dining quarter.

The city centre catering development, which will open at Eldon Square this autumn, has been bolstered by pizza restaurant Inferno, American burger brand Smashburger and Taiwanese bubble tea brand Chatime, for the trio’s first phase of UK restaurant openings.

The new additions, which are marking their first phase of UK openings, will join a host of other restaurants at intu Eldon Square including established names TGI Fridays, Chiquito and Tapas Revolution.

Inferno is taking a 2,100 sq ft unit, Smashburger will be taking 2,000 sq ft and Chatime, 1,000 sq ft.

Shopping centre owner intu is reconfiguring 80,000 sq ft of retail space at intu Eldon Square as part of its strategy to attract visitors from further afield and for longer with an enhanced leisure offer.

Kate Grant, regional director of intu, said: “intu Eldon Square’s new dining quarter is exactly the right space for these exciting new restaurant brands to expand into the north east.

“They will play an important role in establishing our new dining area at Grey’s Quarter as a stylish, sought-after destination for restaurant operators and customers.

“Newcastle’s thriving city centre relies on a strong dining offer that encourages customers to come from further, stay for longer and spend more. We’re looking forward to attracting more visitors to the city by providing a vibrant and central location for both leisure and shopping which will in turn help all our retailers to flourish.”

Tim Lowther, Managing Director of the Smashburger franchise owner said: “We’re very excited to be launching a new Smashburger restaurant in Newcastle.

“We’ve just opened our first UK restaurant in Milton Keynes and intu Eldon Square’s new dining quarter struck us as the ideal location for extending our great offering to the North East.

“We’ll be aiming to turn the area’s shoppers and diners into burger connoisseurs, providing them with the ultimate fast casual dining experience in what promises to be a truly impressive and vibrant dining development.”