England’s first-ever drive-thru Chinese takeaway is set to open near Liverpool.
Warrington restaurant Wiyo - which stands for ‘what is your order’ - has announced its first restaurant would open every day from next week. The owners hope it will become 'the McDonald's’ of Asian cuisine.
The menu includes dishes such as the house special chicken, shredded chilli beef and salt and pepper chicken. These options will cost £7 when they are bought as part of a ‘box’ deal - with either rice or fries - which customers can purchase from the comfort of their cars.
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Leon Freeman, co-owner of Wiyo, spent five years developing the concept with his business partners and hopes to make Chinese food “more convenient for the masses”.
He said: “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.”
Leon said he and his co-owner Sally Gallagher and Dominic Freeman had come up with the idea for the restaurant around a kitchen table in 2018. They then developed their menu with a leading Chinese chef before finding the perfect site for their drive-thru business four years later.
Diners get a choice of ordering three different meal options - with a single dish and drink costing £7, two and a drink priced at £9, and three with a drink going for £11. They can also opt for the ‘salt + pepper sub’, priced at £11, where chicken is layered on a roll with crispy lettuce, onions and Wiyo’s house special soy mayonnaise.
The venue will also offer a number of side dishes, such as battered spring rolls and chicken nuggets, costing around £3 -£4.
Some lucky visitors managed to get their hands on the restaurant's food early when it opened its hatch last weekend during a ‘soft launch’. One diner, who travelled 35 miles from Wrexham, North Wales, to try it out branded it “delicious”.
She said: “It’s delicious, drove all the way from Wrexham. Very tasty food and super-fast turnaround from order to pick up window”. Another added: “Mine was amazing” while a third said: “Mine was really good!”
Despite the rave reviews, Leon said his plan was almost “derailed” in January when he needed to have his leg amputated. He said a cut, which he picked up in the shower, became infected with sepsis and he was forced to run the burgeoning business from his hospital bed.
He added: “By the time I was hospitalised there was no other option but to amputate my leg. I was in hospital for two months. We continued working from my hospital bed and four months after coming out of hospital we have finally completed the project.”
The restaurant isn’t the first in the UK to develop a Chinese drive-thru concept, with those honours going to Waka Asian Fusion, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Wiyo will officially open on June 17, and from then will be open seven days per week between 5-9pm. The new drive-thru can be found off Knutsford Road, on School Street, near Bridge Foot.
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