Chick ‘n’ Sours co-founder David Wolanski has said the “casual dining restaurant model is broken” as the business shuttered its two standalone restaurants in London.
The concept closed its restaurants in Haggerston, which opened in 2015, and Seven Dials, which followed a year later, on Sunday (May 25th).
Chick ‘n’ Sours continues to trade at its recently opened site at the Corner Corner food hall in Canary Wharf and its Roof East residency in Stratford, while its food truck will still have a presence at festivals.
A post on Instagram by Chick ‘n’ Sours said: “The restaurants may both be permanently closed but the brand lives on.”
Wolanski, who founded the business with Carl Clarke, said on Instagram: “We do what we do because we love it, fuelled by passion and a desire to provide guests with awesome food and memorable dining experiences. But that’s no longer enough these days.
We hung in there as long as we could but I’m afraid we’ve now reached the point where operating the two restaurants just isn’t viable anymore and it makes no commercial sense to continue. The casual dining restaurant model is broken, but that’s for another post.”
Chick ‘n’ Sours began as a pop-up and at one point grew to four physical London restaurants, with sites also in Spitalfields and Islington.
In April, Chick ‘n’ Sours became the first business to benefit from a new partnership between Deliveroo and Sessions, the growth platform for food brands.
It saw Chick ‘n’ Sours being served from Sessions delivery kitchens in key London trade zones, with future plans to expand nationally across Sessions’ broader network of kitchens. Clarke stepped away from operations with Chick ‘n’ Sours four years ago but remains a shareholder.
