Mark Wahlberg Wants to Sell His London Burger Restaurant After Six Months

Updated Monday 9 December, 15:05, with comment from Wahlburgers

A household name can’t stop six months of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Mark Wahlberg and family want to sell their first London restaurant, Wahlburgers, after six months of declining trade, according to Mark Wingett of Propel. The Covent Garden burger slinger opened to less than favourable — but not exactly Pete Wells-on-Guy-Fieri terminal — reviews, with the Guardian’s Grace Dent describing Wahlburgers as “puzzling” and leaving more dismayed by how could it good have been, than how bad it actually was.

No: the tragedy of Wahlburgers appears to be that it is deeply “meh,” possessing a brilliant product or a god-tier celebrity presence, unable to sustain its hype machine beyond a heady first few weeks. Neither the burgers nor the brand are compelling, Londoners know what Shake Shack is now, and the location reportedly comes in at £1.2 million rent per year. Wahlburgers has refuted Wingett’s report, claiming that renovations to the property are in fact part of a brand refresh:

Wahlburgers UK has no intention of closing our Covent Garden location, and continue to see it as our flagship restaurant in the region as we look at expanding throughout the UK and Europe. We are committed to this location, our British suppliers, staff and investors, and are currently in the midst of a menu relaunch and interior refurbishment, which we will make clear in the coming days. The person who reported our closing has no access to this type of information, and made this claim falsely and carelessly.

[Propel]

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• Good tweet: