YO! Sushi opens at Gatwick and Waterloo, expanding on-the-go portfolio
The new openings brings YO! Sushi’s international on-the-go restaurant total to 11, with all the station and airport restaurants featuring the brand’s trademark ‘kaiten’ conveyor belt.
Having opened just yesterday, YO! Sushi Gatwick is situated on the upper floor of the North Terminal with an overlooking balcony. The site spans 11,800 sq.ft, featuring 75 covers and an open plan kitchen offering its 90-strong core range of hot and cold Japanese dishes.
The brand’s chief executive, Robin Rowland, said: “As we continue to innovate our dishes and restaurant design, we have naturally expanded our on-the-go portfolio to locations like Gatwick Airport, offering a fantastic choice of Japanese inspired dishes to busy travellers looking for something different.
“Customers can quickly grab and go or enjoy a more leisurely meal if waiting with family and friends. Along with our array of healthy, high quality and great value dishes, we provide a fun and fast paced environment which appeals to the huge variety of consumers especially those that travel through airports and train stations.”
Spencer Sheen, head of retail at Gatwick Airport, added: “The new addition of YO! Sushi highlights our commitment to invigorating Gatwick and providing passengers with sought after dining options.
As we continue to roll out our billion pound investment programme to transform the airport and provide modern facilities, passengers will benefit from a much wider range of choice between ‘food on-the-go’ outlets, relaxed coffee houses and high quality dining restaurants.’’
Planes, trains & sushi
YO! Sushi Waterloo Station opened just in time for the London 2012 Olympics and is located on a new £25m balcony at one of the UK’s busiest stations. The 2,000 sq.ft site with 66 covers features reclaimed brick, copper, walnut timber and colourful Japanese-inspired graphics.
Meanwhile, YO! Sushi has re-opened its Heathrow Terminal 3 airside restaurant after a complete refurbishment. The restaurant now spans a total of 980 sq.ft offering 48 covers.
Having expanded our operations airside in Heathrow T3, we are extremely excited to have the opportunity to present customers with a product that pushes the boundaries of the typical fast-casual airport offering,” said Rowland.
“The decision to invest heavily in the designs of both our Heathrow and Gatwick restaurants, incorporating open-kitchens, allows us to offer diners the choice of all 90 dishes from the YO! Sushi core menu – providing a quality high street YO! Sushi experience in an airport setting.”
Ben Crowley, head of food & beverage at Heathrow, added: “We are delighted with the look and feel of the new YO! Sushi in Terminal 3.
“Our passengers are among the most demanding travellers in the world and we are delighted to offer them a fresh new environment that reflects our vision to create innovative and exciting places to dine when travelling through the airport.”
Crowley recently featured in this BigHospitality videowhich looked at how and why food & beverage offers are expanding in airports, and to find out what it’s like running a restaurant airside.
