Sovereign Centros from CBRE has announced that Slim Chickens, the American fried chicken restaurant chain, has launched a new location at Festival Place, joining the destination’s diverse line-up of F&B operators and making its Basingstoke debut.

Slim Chickens has launched in a 3,503 sq ft unit on Festival Place’s ground floor, occupying a key space on the F&B-focused mall opposite the Festival Square entrance, close to Five Guys and Côte Brasserie. Operated by Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) and with seating for over 85 diners, the new restaurant serves up a menu of fresh, hand-breaded buttermilk-marinated chicken, cooked to order, including popular items such as chicken tenders, crispy wings, and range of 15 dipping sauces.

The new restaurant has been fitted out in Slim Chickens’ American-inspired style, featuring its signature red and black décor to create a relaxed dining atmosphere. Slim Chickens joins Mexican-inspired concept, El Bigote, and local street-food operator, Festival Street Kitchen, both of which have recently opened at Festival Place. The positive impact of these new operators can already be seen across the destination, with total F&B sales up 4.3% year to date, compared with the same period in 2023.

Poppy Radford, Asset Manager at Sovereign Centros from CBRE, commented: “Festival Place’s F&B is going from strength to strength, evidenced by the sales growth across our line-up of dining brands. The opening of Slim Chickens is geared towards taking this further, as we continue to evolve the destination, providing more reasons to visit and more experiences to encourage longer stays. Festival Place continues to assert itself as a hospitality hotspot in the region because of that, and the entrance of an international brand like Slim Chickens adds a dynamic and delicious dining offer that takes us one step closer to hitting the balance of retail, F&B, and leisure the destination needs.”

Ben Blore, Head of Operations at Slim Chickens, added: “We’re delighted to have opened in Festival Place. Basingstoke is set to get a taste of our iconic American-inspired menu for the very first time, with our new restaurant delivering our trademark hand-breaded, buttermilk-marinated chicken dishes, and fifteen premium dipping. The opening marks a key next step in our continued expansion across the UK, with Festival Place making the perfect home for the new restaurant.”

Slim Chickens joins Festival Place’s selection of popular F&B brands, including Asian restaurant chain, wagamama, British pizza restaurant, Pizza Express, and relaxed dining operator, Cosy Club.

Lunson Mitchenall and GCW represent Festival Place.