Wahlburgers permanently closes debut London restaurant

By James McAllister

- Last updated on GMT

Mark Wahlberg burger chain Wahlburgers permanently closes London restaurant  after just one year

Related tags US chain Burger Closure Coronavirus

US burger and bar chain Wahlburgers has permanently closed what was its debut European restaurant in London's Covent Garden little more than a year after it first opened.

In a statement, Wahlburgers cited the financial impact of the ongoing Coronavirus crisis as the reason behind the closure; although prior to the pandemic there's was already suggestions ​that the site was struggling.

Wahlburgers, which is run by chef Paul Wahlberg in partnership with his brothers Mark and Donnie and operates roughly 25 sites across the US, opened its debut UK restaurant in May last year.

At the time it was reported that the chain was hoping to rapidly expand operations in the UK​, with a view to opening 15 restaurants in five years across London and the wider UK.

Regarding the closure, Wahlburgers communications director Katie Piepiora said: "The restaurant industry around the world has been impacted greatly by the Covid-19 pandemic, and unfortunately the Wahlburgers franchisee for the Covent Garden location in London has made the difficult decision to permanently close the restaurant. 

"Wahlburgers Covent Garden is situated in a very busy shopping and entertainment hub that attracts many locals and tourists.  

"Our franchisee had to make the difficult decision to close this location due to the financial impacts of the pandemic on the restaurant industry, as well as the uncertainly of consumer behaviour post pandemic in a location such as this."

Wahlburgers was founded in Massachusetts back in 2011.

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