Turtle Bay, the rapidly-growing Caribbean restaurant chain, is to open its first North East outlet in Newcastle city centre.
The group, which operates 22 eateries, plans to open the new restaurant on the ground floor of the former Co-op Building, next to the Premier Inn hotel which is due for completion this year.
The restaurant will serve hot food inspired by beach shacks and street hawkers across the Caribbean Islands, salads and jerk pit barbecue, as well as a list of speciality rums.
The firm, which was established by Ajith Jaya-Wickrema who also co-founded Las Iguanas, will open in one of four units in the building, which is being restored in a £17m project.
Turtle Bay opened its first restaurant in Milton Keynes in 2010 and has plans to launch around 10 new restaurants this year alone, with more openings in the new year.
The group's recent openings include a site in Huddersfield, which saw £80k invested into the building, and a £1m restaurant in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.