Restaurant chains Wagamama, Frankie & Benny's and Pizza Express have updated diners on their reopening plans.

The details are ahead of the nationwide 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme backed by the UK government, encouraging people to supporting businesses affected by the coronavirus lockdown.

We've put together the latest on what each chain have told us about their return to high streets across the country.

Wagamama

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Wagamama have announced the return of their dine-in operation at 67 sites across the UK using ingenious sliding screens to keep diners safe whilst maintaining an enjoyable experience.

The screens, inspired by Japanese partition designs, take advantage of the long wagamama bench designs to ensure safe dining.

The team at wagamama used guest feedback to devise the sliding screens which sit on tiny rollers and can be moved up and down the full length of the benches discretely separating parties of guests from one another. 

The ‘stay safe the Wagamama way’ re-opening will allow customers to experience the restaurant making a feature of the restaurant’s iconic benches.

Wagamama reopened four trial sites to test the safety and efficiency of the designs which were put in place to meet strict social distancing and increased hygiene measures.

The first restaurant to open was at the Royal Festival Hall in central London on Saturday, July 4 and included a wide variety of innovative ideas to keep customers and team members safe.

The first site was then followed by three others at the Trafford Centre, Stevenage and Swindon from Monday, July 6.

The next wave saw a further 15 open and on Monday, July 27, Wagamama reopened 28 sites.

A total of 29 branches will reopen on Friday, July 31. 

A further site will be opened on August 3, five more on August 4 and the remaining four on August 5 with a further 31 restaurants re-opening early August, locations to be confirmed. 

By the end of August there will be 138 wagamama restaurants open and all will participate in the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme.

Other measures the restaurant is taking to ensure guests stay safe the wagamama way include social distancing queueing, disposable menus on placemats, front of house team members in face visors and the restaurants will also be cashless, providing a simple pay on phone mechanic at the end of the meal which minimises staff contact and adheres to the government’s request of taking the name and phone number of at least one person in the group visiting the restaurant.

CEO of Wagamama Emma Woods said: “The main question we have been working on as a team is how can our guests feel safe but still have a communal wagamama experience, sitting on our benches.

"The team have applied our philosophy of kaizen - good change - to this challenge and I am delighted we have found a design solution which provides social distancing for our guests in a way which is true to the design ethos of the brand.”

These branches reopened on July 27:

  • Ashford
  • Basingstoke
  • Bath
  • Bedford
  • Birmingham Bullring
  • Bournemouth
  • Bracknell
  • Bristol Cabot Circus
  • Canterbury
  • Croydon
  • Derby
  • Glasgow Fort
  • Harrogate
  • Hereford
  • Lakeside
  • Leamington
  • Manchester St Peters
  • Meadowhall
  • Milton Keynes
  • Newcastle
  • Norwich
  • Portsmouth
  • Putney
  • Rushden Lakes
  • Salisbury
  • Solihull
  • Southampton
  • York Designer Outlet

These branches will reopen on July 31:

  • Aylesbury
  • Basildon
  • Bletchley
  • Brent Cross
  • Brighton
  • Bromley
  • Bury St Edmunds
  • Camberley
  • Cambridge
  • Colchester
  • Coventry
  • East Midlands
  • Gloucester Quays
  • High Wycombe
  • Ipswich
  • Leeds Trinity
  • Leeds White Rose
  • Liverpool Speke
  • Maidstone
  • Manchester Spinningfields
  • Reading
  • Uxbridge
  • Victoria
  • Wandsworth
  • Watford
  • Westfield White City
  • Whiteley Fareham
  • Winchester
  • Windsor

These branches will reopen in August:

  • August 3 - Leicester Highcross
  • August 4 - Aberdeen
  • August 4 - Edinburgh Fort Kinaird
  • August 4 - Edinburgh St Andrews
  • August 4 - Glasgow City Ctr
  • August 4 - Silverburn
  • August 5 - Bridgend
  • August 5 - Cardiff Library
  • August 5 - Cardiff Mermaid
  • August 5 - Newport

Frankie & Benny's

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Frankie & Benny’s have released a list of a further 15 restaurants that have reopened for dine-in, click and collect and delivery this week, taking the total number of reopened sites to 35 by the end of the month.

The company say they will also be taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme throughout August, offering 50.

All restaurants listed below reopened for click and collect, delivery and dine-in from July 27:

  • Basildon - Festival Park
  • Burleigh House - The Strand
  • Feltham
  • Trowbridge
  • Exeter - Marsh Barton
  • Swindon
  • Birmingham - The Fort
  • Northampton – Riverside
  • Derby Pride Park
  • Rotheram
  • Eldon Square Newcastle
  • York - Clifton Moor
  • Metrocentre, Gateshead
  • Glasgow Fort
  • Dunfermline

Customers will be asked to book in advance with contact details collected through their digital platforms (bookings, order at table and pay my bill), which will be stored for 21 days, in accordance to Government’s guidance.

Mark Chambers, CEO of the Leisure division, said: "We are delighted to be reopening more Frankie & Benny’s restaurants and very much look forward to welcoming back our guests.

"Our priority will be to ensure the health and safety of our teams and guests whilst providing a first-class experience.

"We are very pleased with the feedback we have received from returning guests so far and we will be monitoring feedback very closely to ensure we continue to deliver a great and safe experience.

"We are also thrilled to participate in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. This is a much-needed boost for our sector, and we thank the Government for their support."

Pizza Express

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

PizzaExpress has announced the reopening dates for more than 150 more of its pizzerias across the UK.

A total of 71 restaurants will reopen for dine-in and dine-out services on Thursday, July 30, and an additional 88 on Thursday, August 6.

The next phases of PizzaExpress’ reopening plan follow successful ‘test and learn’ trials of delivery, click-and-collect and dine-in services at selected pizzerias since July 9.

The company say that further phases of UK restaurant reopenings will be announced in due course.

Opening in accordance with the latest government advice, each pizzeria has robust measures in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of teams and customers.

These include a physically distanced layout, hand sanitiser stations, heightened hygiene procedures and cleaning measures along with regular health checks of team members. PizzaExpress has also introduced a new online booking service, as well as a new digital menu and cashless payment to assist and reassure customers. 

Each pizzeria that’s open will be supporting the government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme throughout August for dine-in customers.

Zoe Bowley, managing director at PizzaExpress said: "It’s been very exciting to welcome customers back into our restaurants in the last fortnight, and our teams are looking forward to reopening hundreds more pizzerias in the next few weeks.

"Our top priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our teams and customers, and we are very grateful for the way that our customers have embraced our new procedures.

"The response to our online booking system, new digital menus and cashless payments has been fantastic, and we encourage everyone to use these services as much as possible as their local restaurant reopens.

"All of our open restaurants will be very happily supporting the Eat out to Help Out scheme in August, which will give our customers outstanding value for money.

"We’re working hard to provide the PizzaExpress experience that our customers love in a safe and responsible way, as we bring back our freshly handmade pizza to even more locations as soon as we can."

The pizzerias that will reopen on Thursday, July 30, are:

  1. Bournemouth Beach
  2. Falmouth
  3. Newquay
  4. St. Ives
  5. Blackpool
  6. Barnes
  7. Hampton Court
  8. Kew
  9. Kingston 2 – The Rotunda
  10. Muswell Hill
  11. Paddington
  12. Radlett
  13. Ruislip
  14. Stanmore
  15. Twickenham
  16. Watford
  17. Wimbledon 1 – Village
  18. Bedford
  19. Cambridge – Jesus Lane
  20. Cambridge – Regent St
  21. Derby – Irongate
  22. Derby – Intu
  23. East Midlands Park
  24. Huntingdon
  25. Lincoln
  26. Newark
  27. Nottingham – King St
  28. Nottingham – Giltbrook
  29. Peterborough
  30. Rushden Lakes
  31. St. Neots
  32. Stamford
  33. West Bridgford
  34. Aldershot
  35. Alresford
  36. Alton
  37. Banstead
  38. Bracknell
  39. Camberley
  40. Caterham
  41. Cheam
  42. Chertsey
  43. Cobham – Anyards Road
  44. Coulsdon
  45. Cranleigh
  46. Crawley
  47. Croydon – Valley Park
  48. Dorking
  49. Epsom
  50. Farnham
  51. Fleet
  52. Godalming
  53. Guildford
  54. Haslemere
  55. Horsham
  56. Marlow
  57. New Malden
  58. Oxted
  59. Petersfield
  60. Purely
  61. Sunningdale
  62. Surbiton
  63. Sutton 2
  64. Wallington
  65. Weybridge
  66. Winchester
  67. Worcester Park
  68. Brighton – Prince Albert St
  69. Brighton – Brighton Marina
  70. Brighton – Jubilee St
  71. Brent Cross

The pizzerias that will reopen on Thursday, August 6, are:

  1. Andover
  2. Basingstoke
  3. Basingstoke – Festival Place
  4. Bath
  5. Bath 2
  6. Christchurch
  7. Devizes
  8. Dorchester
  9. Exeter
  10. Marlborough
  11. Newbury
  12. Plymouth – Barbican
  13. Poole – Tower Park
  14. Salisbury
  15. Taunton
  16. Truro
  17. Westbourne
  18. Aberdeen – Union Square
  19. Edinburgh – George IV Bridge
  20. Glasgow – Queen St
  21. Teesside Park
  22. Manchester – King St
  23. Lavender Hill
  24. Wandsworth – Old York Road
  25. Epping
  26. Harlow
  27. Harpenden
  28. Hitchin
  29. Loughton
  30. Romford
  31. Upminster
  32. Welwyn Garden City
  33. Winchmore Hill
  34. Abingdon
  35. Banbury
  36. Bicester
  37. Birmingham – Brindley Place
  38. Birmingham – Bullring
  39. Bristol – Harbourside
  40. Cardiff – High St
  41. Gloucester Quays
  42. Hemel Hempstead
  43. Leighton Buzzard
  44. Loughborough
  45. Oxford – Golden Cross
  46. Shrewsbury
  47. Stratford Upon Avon
  48. Sutton Coldfield
  49. Wallingford
  50. Witney
  51. Amersham
  52. Gerrards Cross
  53. Henley
  54. Maidenhead
  55. Reading – Oracle
  56. Southampton – Westquay
  57. Windsor
  58. Wokingham
  59. Arundel
  60. Bluewater
  61. Bluewater – The Plaza
  62. Bromley
  63. Bromley – St Marks Centre
  64. Canterbury
  65. Chichester
  66. Eastbourne
  67. Eltham
  68. Hastings
  69. High Wicombe – Eden Centre
  70. Hove
  71. Lewes
  72. Portsmouth
  73. Sevenoaks
  74. Worthing
  75. Leeds – Headingley
  76. Leeds – Albion Place
  77. Sheffield – Meadowhall
  78. Sheffield – St Pauls Place
  79. Beckenham
  80. Bexleyheath
  81. Chislehurst
  82. Great Portland Street
  83. Leicester Square
  84. London Wall – Salisbury House
  85. Sidcup
  86. West Wickham
  87. Fleet – Services
  88. Oxford – Services

The pizzerias that are currently open, are:

Dine-in services

  1. Jersey – St. Brelade
  2. Jersey – St. Helier
  3. Buxton
  4. Carlisle
  5. Cheshire Oaks
  6. Chester
  7. Didsbury
  8. Hale
  9. Knutsford
  10. Liverpool – King’s Waterfront
  11. Macclesfield
  12. Poynton
  13. Wilmslow
  14. Bar Marzano – Norwich
  15. Basildon
  16. Bishops Stortford
  17. Braintree
  18. Brentwood
  19. Bury St. Edmonds
  20. Chelmsford
  21. Colchester
  22. Ely
  23. Hatfield
  24. Hertford
  25. Ipswich – Regatta Quay
  26. Kings Lynn
  27. Lakeside
  28. Newmarket
  29. Norwich – St. Benedict Street
  30. Norwich – Forum Building
  31. Rayleigh
  32. Southend
  33. Berkhamsted
  34. Beverley
  35. Durham
  36. Harrogate
  37. Hull – Princes Quay
  38. Ilkley
  39. Newcastle – Eldon Square
  40. Skipton
  41. York – River House
  42. York – McArthur Glen 
  43. York – St. Sampsons Square
  44. London – Abbey Road
  45. London – Bankside
  46. Gretna Gateway

Delivery-only and click-and-collect services:

  1. Abbeville Road
  2. Balham
  3. Belsize Park
  4. Camden
  5. Chiswick
  6. Croydon – George Street
  7. Dulwich
  8. Ealing
  9. Fulham Road – (363)
  10. Greenwich
  11. Notting Hill Gate
  12. Shepherds Bush
  13. Wandsworth – Trinity Road
  14. London - Fulham Road
  15. London - Kennington, London
  16. London - Highgate
  17. London - Putney
  18. London – Wimbledon, Broadway 
  19. London - Islington
  20. London - Stratford East
  21. London - Pimlico
  22. London - South Woodford
  23. London - Mill Hill
  24. London - Barnet
  25. Reigate
  26. London - Teddington
  27. London - Whetstone
  28. St Albans
  29. London - Walthamstow
  30. London - Richmond
  31. London - Curtain Road
  32. Esher
  33. Walton On Thames
  34. London – Harrow, St George Centre 
  35. Woking