Giggling Squid, the popular and innovative family of Thai restaurants, is pleased to announce its second London site will open this year in Kingston-upon-Thames.
The 3000 sq.ft site occupies a prime location on the High Street and will be the group’s 30th site this year. The former Jamie’s Italian site will seat approximately 120 and include a bar area for pre-theatre drinks. Due to open autumn 2018 Giggling Squid expects to employ around 20 team members within the restaurant.
Pranee Laurillard, founder of Giggling Squid says, “we’re delighted to have secured this property in the heart of Kingston, having eaten here a lot on shopping trips in the past. It’s a really convenient spot for car parks and the theatre and we have some really fun ideas for the interior.”
Bob Cattaneo of Cattaneo Commercial comments, ‘Giggling Squid is a quality operator with an exceptional brand that is successfully expanding despite a challenging market and their presence will invigorate High Street, Kingston, the main restaurant area of the town’.
Following last month’s launch in Beaconsfield, new sites are planned this summer in Chichester, Windsor and Cheltenham followed by Harpenden, Bishop’s Stortford and Kingston autumn openings. Andy Laurillard explained “Looking ahead we are now starting to see some reasonably good deals come up in the London area and we are currently considering a number of high quality locations inside the M25.”
Owned by Thai-born Pranee Laurillard and her husband Andrew, Giggling Squid – the nickname of one of their three children – was founded in the basement of a tiny fisherman’s cottage, now the Brighton restaurant, where dreams of replicating a little taste of home became a reality. Giggling Squid has gone on to establish a strong reputation for authentic Thai cooking with an emphasis on coastal specialities and with 24 locations is now the largest Thai restaurant brand in the country.