They are huge in the US, but few British diners have heard of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) or Ruby Tuesday (RT). But all this is about to change as the restaurant chains join Taco Bell in a three-pronged US attack on the British market this summer.
Chipotle, the burrito chain with nearly 1,000 restaurants across America, opened its first UK outlet in London in May and Taco Bell, the world’s largest Mexican-inspired chain, will arrive in Essex this month.
Ruby Tuesday – the American casual dining chain is named after the Rolling Stones song and has more than 900 outlets around the world – opened its first UK outlet in Cardiff’s St David’s shopping centre last month. None of the three has come over here to make up the numbers, and sizeable expansion plans are afoot.
Nick Dawson, the general manager for UK and Europe at Taco Bell, the Yum Brands-owned quick-service restaurant (QSR) operator, said: “This will be the first of a long existence in the UK.”
