US chain reveals exciting plans to open two restaurants in Nottingham
Popular US burger chain Wendy's has plans to open in Nottingham. Two sites are in the pipeline - one in the city centre and another slightly out of town with a drive-thru.
A spokesperson said they hope to open within the next 12 months if negotiations over the properties go smoothly. The fast food restaurants, founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Ohio, are renowned for their square-shaped patties, not round "because they don't cut corners." The burgers are fresh, never frozen, and always cooked to order.
The signature burger is the Baconator - two quarter pounders, topped with American cheese, crispy Applewood smoked bacon, Heinz ketchup and mayo. Other favourites are Dave's single, double and triple burgers. As well as a classic chicken burger, there's variations with avocado and a Jalapeno Popper Chicken Sandwich with spicy chicken, cream cheese, jalapenos, and smoked bacon. The vegetarian option is the Curry Bean Burger.
The rest of the menu is devoted to chicken nuggets, wraps, salads and an array of sides. It's not just fries either - baked potatoes can be ordered with toppings of bacon and cheese and sour cream and chives. Pots of chilli con carne are also served or you can have it on loaded fries with cheese.
The Frosty, Wendy's famous dessert, is neither ice cream nor a milkshake, but something in between. Regular flavours are vanilla and chocolate with a summer special of white chocolate and strawberry. The fast food restaurants also serve breakfast, including Wendy's take on classic sandwiches with bacon or sausage, muffins and croissants.
The closest Wendy's to Nottingham are over the border in Derbyshire. One opened last November at College Retail Park in Normanton Road, Derby, is around a 35-minute drive away. On Friday September 13 another Wendy's was opened by a different franchise, Square Burgers, just off junction 30 of the M1 at Barlborough.
Around 100 customers queued to get their hands on a free burger when the doors opened. Replacing a KFC outlet, it joins Costa and McDonald's at the site at Tallys End. In a dig at their competitor there's a sign in the car park with an arrow for fresh beef pointing to Wendy's and an arrow for frozen beef pointing in the opposite direction towards McDonald's.
Arron Morley, head of operations, said: "This is our tenth in the UK so it's a big opening for us. We cover from Nottingham to Newcastle out to Hull and Blackpool so we've a big territory to grow in.
"We have been looking for drive-thru locations, particularly very close to the M1 - you've got busy traffic passing through, it's accessible and before it used to be a KFC site so it's quite easy to transition into a Wendy's. To bring Wendy's to the Midlands area is a great opportunity for us. This is the furthest south for us at the moment. We have a mixture of sites - high street locations and drive- thrus."
Commenting on the cheeky fresh vs frozen signage, Arron said: "We are quite bold with our marketing. We go all out with that. We've got one in Hull that broke all records when we opened that right next to a McDonald's. We pride ourselves on a high quality product. Fresh not frozen is our tagline. All our beef is sourced locally and cooked fresh to order so it's not held [under heat lamps].
"The beauty about Wendy's is it's higher quality but quick service. We pride ourselves on as being as good quality as Five Guys but just at a better price. What makes us a little bit different is the salads that we do, the healthier options. We do jacket potatoes as well. You don't normally see those in a quick service restaurant."
Wendy's, named after the founder's daughter, was a familiar name in the UK in the 80s and 90s but by 2001 the restaurants closed due to high operating and property costs. The brand, which has 6,000 restaurants worldwide, returned to the UK in 2021.