A fast-growing burger chain looks set to open in York, when a city-centre bar closes this summer.
Fat Hippo, which specialises in beef, chicken and vegan burgers, wants to move into Low Petergate, taking over the building currently occupied by Jimmy’s, and which was previously Café Rouge for many years.
The move is part of a nationwide expansion by Fat Hippo. The company launched in Newcastle in 2010 and now also has restaurants in Leeds, Durham, Liverpool and Nottingham, as well as concessions in Manchester, Sheffield and Edinburgh.
Last week, company bosses revealed they wanted to more than double their number of restaurants by the end of next year, creating 200 new jobs.
The company has already announced plans to open in Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow and Shoreditch, but YorkMix can reveal a Fat Hippo planning application has also now been submitted for York.
The company needs planning permission to repaint the frontage and carry out minor alterations to the make-up of the building.
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Fat Hippo’s website states: “What does the future hold for Fat Hippo, we hear you ask? Well, world burger domination obviously. We have exciting plans to continue growing nationally so watch this space. The best burgers could be landing in a city near you soon.”
It will make for a battle of the burgers – as Five Guys is just yards away on the other side of the street.
Jimmy’s opened in Low Petergate in April 2021, but will close next month after just over a year.
The owners plan move into the music venue which will replace the old Fibber’s building in Toft Green if it gets planning permission, as recently reported in YorkMix.
Jimmy’s was founded by George and Jimmy Craig, who found fame in the early 2000s when they set up the band One Night Only. The company already had successful branches in Liverpool and Manchester before opening in York.
The planning application can be seen on the City of York Council website.