If you’ve come here as a seasoned fan of Nando’s you’ll likely have sampled their renowned peri-peri chicken on travels outside of Texas and you’ll be elated to hear it’ll soon be obtainable a lot closer to home.
On the flip side, if you’ve come here questioning what Nando’s is and why it deserves attention, let us enlighten you…
After opening its first restaurant in a small town outside of Johannesburg, South Africa back in 1987, Nando’s Peri-Peri has expanded to 24 nations and over 1,500 locations around the world ranging from New Zealand to Canada.
Famous for its spicy flame-grilled chicken that’s marinated for 24 hours, the fast-casual restaurant made its British debut in 1992 and now has a devoted following across its nearly 500 restaurants in the UK and Ireland.
It then reached our shores in 2008 with an inaugural US restaurant in Washington, D.C. and today has numerous locations across Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and soon our very own Lone Star State too!
The South African-born restaurant has announced that it will be opening 3 Texas locations this year, with one in Post Oak Plaza in Uptown and La Centerra in Katy this Spring, as well as a location in Dallas.
“Our authentic flavors were born in South Africa but are built for Houston. We can’t wait to welcome Nando’s newcomers, and loyalists who have long lobbied for us to come to Texas, to this fast-growing city known for its incredible diversity and culinary scene,” said John Fisher, CEO of Nando’s PERi-PERi USA.
The restaurant proudly sources its namesake peri-peri chile from a network of 1,400 local farmers in South Africa where it’s known as African Bird’s Eye Chilli and recognized by Nando’s as “the heart and soul of the experience.”
This, combined with its uniquely designed restaurants collectively displaying the largest collection of contemporary South African art on the planet, has earned the fast-casual restaurant an international following of devoted clientele.
The incoming Post Oak Plaza location will have its own unique design with earthy textures and vibrant colors reflecting “its sunny African heritage while retaining a sense of place in which it lives and breathes.”
Accommodating up to 160 guests, it is being designed by the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. Custom-made furniture a lighting will decorate the 3,200-square-foot space with 80 indoor seats and an eye-catching, L-shaped patio seating an additional 80 guests.
If you’ve never been in a Nando’s but can’t place why it feels familiar, Nando’s sauces, which are sold in stores across the United States, are also immensely popular around the world.
Sauces like Lemon & Herb PERi-PERi Sauce, Garlic PERi-PERi Sauce, Hot PERi-PERi Sauce, Extra Extra Hot PERi-PERi Sauce, and two spicy mayo sauces known as PERinaise, for example, have been available at places like Walmart, Whole Foods, and Kroger for several years.
Set to open this year at Post Oak Plaza and La Centerra, the restaurants will offer its staples of chicken and fries, chicken wings, chicken skewers, and chicken bowls as well as salad bowls, wraps, pitas, burgers, hummus, halloumi sticks, and various desserts.
The full Nando’s menu can be found at www.nandosperiperi.com/menu.
Read the full press release here.[Featured image from Shutterstock]