The first ever Chinese takeaway drive-thru in England will open in the north west this week, it has been revealed.
Called Wiyo – which stands for What Is Your Order – will bring something entirely new to the region as it launches its first drive-thru restaurant in Warrington this week.
Offering up the likes of salt and pepper chicken, shredded chilli beef and its “house special chicken”, owners have revealed they already have their sites set on an opening in Manchester – and hope that in time the concept could become the “McDonald’s of Asian cuisine.”
The idea was first born, apparently, around a kitchen table back in 2018 but has taken five years to come to fruition.
Co-owners Leon Freedman, Sally Gallagher and Dominic Freeman are the trio behind the genius concept and worked alongside a leading Chinese chef to develop the menu for Wiyo.
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Choices span three different meal options, with prices starting from just £7 for a single dish and drink and rising to £11 for three dishes with a beverage.
Further options include a ‘salt + pepper sub’ with seasoned chicken layered onto a roll with salad, onions and a special soy mayonnaise, as well as side dishes like battered spring rolls and chicken nuggets from £3.
One of Wiyo’s owners, Leon Freedman, told the Manchester Evening News: “The aim was to make Chinese takeaway food quicker and more convenient for the masses. Considering how popular Chinese food is in England, we were confused why no one had developed the concept before now.
“The goal is to make Wiyo the McDonald’s of the Chinese fast food industry. We’re already looking at franchises in Manchester, Liverpool, Essex and hope to make this national.”
Speaking to the Warrington Guardian he added: “Our goal was to create a quick, convenient, great tasting menu, that can be eaten on the go for the people of Warrington and surrounding areas.
“We will be employing at least 15 staff from the local area and hope to bring some life back to a once run-down space in the centre of town.”
Wiyo opens officially on Saturday, June 17 at 5pm, following on from a soft launch this weekend just passed.
Featured image – Wiyo
Eats
Electrik Bar in Chorlton is giving away 100 FREE frankfurters to celebrate their latest kitchen collab
Danny Jones
We all love a freebie, so we thought we’d spread the good word of the scran lords by letting you know that Electrik over in Chorlton is giving away 100 free frankfurters to celebrate their newest menu takeover.
The popular neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Wilbraham Road in the South Manchester suburb has had a couple of different foodie collaborations over the past couple of years, with local residents Paramogeddon and Four Side Vegan Pizza being the most recent, but now they’re doing hot dogs.
Welcoming their latest vendors Tisch Und Teller, Electrik will be giving away a total of 100 free frankfurters to the first century of people there this evening.
Bringing a taste of Berlin, Bavaria, Frankfurt and more (with a Manc twist, of course) to the popular pub for the Thursday launch party, all you need to do is order a drink upon arrival to get your hands on a free frankfurter sandwiched between a lovely fluffy roll.
Who doesn’t love a hot dog? Especially when they’re giving them away.
As for Tisch Und Teller (TuT), they’ve been serving up German-inspired favourites from the likes of The Shakespeare in Manchester city centre and Nip and Tipple in Whalley Range since September last year, including some very impressive brunches and Sunday roasts.
But the brand just keeps gaining more traction and now they’re setting up shop in Electrik, we’re sure the word will continue to spread – and fast.
Better still, as advertised on the promo poster, not only will TuT now be serving up their delicious food from Electrik every Thursday-Sunday for the foreseeable but the launch party will also live music by local legend and DJing veteran, Abigail Ward of Ghost Assembly.
Free food, pints and top tunes – what more could you ask for on a random weeknight?
The offer will be available from 6pm tonight and, once again, you have to be among the first 100 people to buy a pint to be eligible for a free frankfurter.
Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away FREE drinks tomorrow
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s newest Instagrammable coffee shops is giving away free drinks tomorrow ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
With another long weekend right around the corner, and much of Greater Manchester and the UK fortunately looking set to bask in the springtime heat, popular coffee chain, Blank Street – which is one of Manchester city centre’s newest residents, with two sites in Piccadilly Gardens, and on the corner of King Street and Cross Street – has decided it wants to help the country “beat the 3pm slump”.
Ahead of the upcoming bank holiday weekend, the chain is inviting Mancs to “meet for matcha” tomorrow afternoon (Friday 3 May).
The exciting freebie offer is all said to be “inspired by data” that shows that almost half of office workers aren’t taking a break from their desks during the day, even despite research showing that this can boost productivity.
Hundreds of iced matcha lattes will be served up at Blank Street‘s Manchester branch on the corner of King Street and Cross Street between 3pm and 4pm tomorrow.
Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away free drinks tomorrow / Credit: Blank Street
For anyone “ice cold pick-me-up ahead of the long weekend”, but keen not to tip their employers off, the coffee shop chain has created an online tool to allow workers to discreetly add a matcha moment to their diary.
The brand-new online tool will apparently help to “distract calendar snoopers” by creating a cleverly-named meeting and adding it automatically to Outlook, Google, or Apple calendars – with potential meeting titles that include plenty of corporate jargon to “provide the perfect alibi”.
So, all matcha fans need to do tomorrow afternoon is show the Blank Street team at their chosen branch a meeting in their calendar, and in return, they’ll receive a free small iced matcha latte of their choice from the chain’s delicious spring menu.
Blank Street’s popular matcha offering includes the Classic Matcha, the viral Blueberry Matcha, the silky-smooth White Chocolate Matcha, and the brand-new sumptuous Golden Matcha, so there’s something to “inspire every matcha lover to take a little time out”.
As matcha allows a slow release of caffeine, Blank Street says it’s the “perfect drink” to keep energy levels up throughout the afternoon when you’re stuck at your desk on a Friday.
Georgina Pellant -
12th June 2023 
