[quote="Jen66"]Whippet in Balham also gone....[/quote]

really - what happened - I was in there days ago!!!

I am happy to report that Pizza Express is not up and running again...looking more fabulous than ever. The new interiors look great!!!
They are also now hosting live music every Thursday night now too!

Hey,

This post made me slighly panic as we have booked that Pizza Express restaurant for my daughter's birthday in December. So I walked past today and asked the builders. They said it is suppose to reopen Friday it is just a refurb!

I drove past it at lunchtime today and it was very much open! No name change, just good old PE.

[quote="papinian"]
This is not true. The group that owns Giraffe only took over some of the Ed's restaurants. The rest were closed by KPMG, the administrators of the existing company.
[/quote]

Ah I see, I had it the wrong way around - looks like Giraffe are the saviour in this case.

Julian - I have fond memories of the earlier Ed's in the Kings Road and Covent Garden. They were pretty trendy then and did so well that a new chain "Johnny Rockets" was set up which was basically a carbon copy of Ed's.

Mind you that was a long time ago, it must be at least 30 years and "trendiness" doesn't last long in the restaurant business!

"Like Frankie & Benny's it became associated with lower middle class white English customers which is pretty much the death knell for any casual dining chain."

I used to go to Ed's Diner in Covent Garden back in the early '90's. Bottomless filter coffee did it for me. Add a nostalgic emoji here -

[quote="Denwand"]They were taken over by the group that owns "Giraffe" - they didn't waste any time in shutting the Southside branch down either - it was closed within days of the takeover announcement.[/quote]

This is not true. The group that owns Giraffe only took over some of the Ed's restaurants. The rest were closed by KPMG, the administrators of the existing company.

All the details are here: https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/368815/giraffe-owner-buys-33-eds-easy-diners-26-in-administration

Frankly, I am not surprised that the Southside branch was not one of those acquired. The casual dining offering at Southside is saturated, the location of the Ed's was very poor, and it was too close to McDonald's. Ed's was essentially the new Wimpy's with a similarly poor attitude to market segmentation and differentiation. Like Frankie & Benny's it became associated with lower middle class white English customers which is pretty much the death knell for any casual dining chain.

[quote="Writerlady"]:( Not sure about Pizza Express but we just went to Ed's Diner at Southside for son's birthday and that's gone too!! :cry:[/quote]

They were taken over by the group that owns "Giraffe" - they didn't waste any time in shutting the Southside branch down either - it was closed within days of the takeover announcement.

Mind you with Byron just opening and a branch of GBK already there I suppose they thought Southside already had enough burger restaurants?

[quote="Writerlady"]:( Not sure about Pizza Express but we just went to Ed's Diner at Southside for son's birthday and that's gone too!! :cry:[/quote]

They were taken over by the group that owns "Giraffe" - they didn't waste any time in shutting the Southside branch down either - it was closed within days of the takeover announcement.

Mind you with Byron just opening and a branch of GBK already there I suppose they thought Southside already had enough burger restaurants?

Whippet in Balham also gone....

:( Not sure about Pizza Express but we just went to Ed's Diner at Southside for son's birthday and that's gone too!! :cry:

A poster in the window says it's a refurb so hopefully it will be back soon. :)

I was wondering that too. I hope it hasn't gone. It's always busy.

Packed up the kids in the pram this evening and walked over to Abbeville road for some pizza and was shocked to see Pizza Express is gone!!! Oh my!
Does anyone know the details? Is it being refurbished or is another restaurant moving in?