Oh My God, They Killed Benny!

The Italian-American restaurant chain based in the U.K. formerly known as Frankie and Benny’s has rebranded itself as Frankie’s, parting company with Benny. Big Hospitality reports that the name change is part of a wider “modernisation.”

It comes a year and a half after Frankie (and Benny’s) owner, the Restaurant Group (TRG) did some Covid-consolidating, closing over 100 restaurants and cutting close to 3,000 jobs, including the unspecified role of Benny. In an email seen by the BBC last June, TRG told senior staff that the pandemic had gutted its leisure division: “Many sites are no longer viable to trade and will remain closed permanently [...] The Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted our ability to trade profitably, so we’ve taken the tough decision to close these restaurants now.”

Now, those that survived will rise from the ashes, but without Benny.

The new look (which is a little less 80s red-green-and-white regional British industrial estate dining); a little cleaner will be unveiled at Frankie’s refurbished Basildon restaurant due to open at the end of October — the first of three major refurbishments planned for 2021, according to Big Hospitality.

The company says the growth in delivery and takeaway are main aims for the restaurant in the future.

“As part of our efforts to evolve the brand and deliver an excellent customer proposition, we are letting Frankie take centre stage and move the brand forward to a bright future,” Jonathan Knight, managing director at Frankie’s said. Knight didn’t say how.