The group has acquired the former José Pizarro site on Broadgate, which closed in December last year.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring our exciting offer to the heart of the best city in the world,” says Ratnesh Bagdai, co-founder of Bar Kroketa.
The brand takes its name from the Basque spelling of the deep fried, béchamel-based snack and serves a menu of sweet and savoury kroketas alongside seasonally changing small plates.
Drinks include a selection of wines, sherries, beer and cider, as well as kalimotxos – the Basque take on sangria.
Bar Kroketa opened its first site on Beak Street in Soho in 2023 and established a second location at St Christopher’s Place in June last year.
“We are all very excited about our third site in as many years,” Bagdai continues.
“This opportunity clearly shows us how popular our concept is, and we hope to continue to increase our presence by bringing Bar Kroketa to many parts of our capital city.
“Our new home will see a melting pot of city workers, transient tourists and weekend destination voyeurs with one common goal – to have a great time with us.”
Broadgate will be Bar Kroketa’s biggest site to date, holding around 50 seated covers inside and about 25 covers on the terrace.
Spanish chef José Pizarro announced the closure of his eponymous City restaurant at the end of last year, originally intending to relaunch the site under a new concept called Bar Plaza.
However, those plans never came to fruition.
Brindisa celebrated 20 years of its restaurant business in 2024.
Speaking to Restaurant at the time, co-founder Monika Linton said the group was aiming to open two Bar Kroketa sites this year.
“We have two sites now and the ambition is to do a few more,” she said at the time.
“Like Brindisa, we don’t want to go outside of the business for money, we just do things as we succeed. Site two now has a nice pace, and we have site three and site four in our view, which we expect to open next year.
“Bar Kroketa is a much lower outlay [than Brindisa], partly because it’s drinks led and the menu is shorter, so the investment at every level is lower risk.”