Wagamama was the brainchild of Hong Kong-born entrepreneur Alan Yau. After opening the doors of its London restaurant in 1992, the company wasted little time cornering the market in casual Asian dining.
A little over ten years later, Wagamama had produced enough noodles to circumnavigate the globe 64 times, with over 190 restaurants across Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Oman, Qatar, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the USA. Today, there are more than 200 outlets around the world.
For over 30 years, the company has prided itself on offering a unique dining experience by bringing together the fresh and invigorating flavours of Asia for everyone.
Driving this rapid global expansion is the company’s long-standing philosophy of “kaizen”, meaning “good change”. Wagamama states that this belief guides every dish and is the force behind the continuous improvement of its recipes, service levels and restaurant ambience.
Wagamama’s restaurants are noted for their communal tables, with unrelated diners seated side by side on long benches. As well as its restaurant setup, the company is also well-known for its signature dishes, such as ramen, teppanyaki and katsu curry.
Now part of The Restaurant Group after a USD 559m acquisition in 2014, Wagamama posted half-year sales in H1 2022 of GBP 423.4m, up from GBP 216.8m in the first half of 2022. The Restaurant Group posted annual revenues in the same year of over GBP 459m.
