Wahaca to open third restaurant at Canary Wharf

Wahaca’s third restaurant will join Roka, Jamie’s Italian and Canteen when it opens at Canary Wharf this autumn

Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers and business partner Mark Selby are set to open their third Wahaca site at Canary Wharf’s Canada Square at the end of October.

The 5,500sqft 150-cover restaurant with upstairs terrace bar will serve the same Mexican street-style food found at Wahaca’s two sister sites in Covent Garden and Westfield shopping centre, and will start a separate takeaway offering from January 2010.

With a plethora of restaurant businesses gearing up to open at Canary Wharf this year, including Roka, Canteen and London’s first Jamie’s Italian, Selby told BigHospitality the location’s space was the main draw for him and Miers.

“It’s a glass pavilion looking out over Canada Square, which is one of Canary Wharf’s only green open spaces,” he said. “We thought it was a great site, and the huge American market in the area was also a natural fit. The majority of our trade will be from the local businesses, and although we’re a sit-down waited restaurant, our price point means we’ll be a lot cheaper than other restaurants in the area.”

Selby also confirmed that he and Miers were considering further expansion plans within London, but would choose sites out of ‘passion and not because we have to’.

Wahaca at Canary Wharf is also launching a pre-opening online competition to find a street artist to decorate a 25msq wall and ceiling space in their own style, launching at the Wahaca blog page in the next week.