San Carlo Group signs new lease in Picadilly

The move will double its restaurant size to 7,000 square feet.

San Carlo, the restaurant group specialising in contemporary Italian food, is doubling the size of its West End Cicchetti restaurant by moving from 215 Piccadilly to 172-173 Piccadilly the Grade II listed Piccadilly Arcade.

The new 7,000 square feet site forms part of the Grade II listed Piccadilly Arcade and covers two units spread over two floors. Opening in spring 2024, Cicchetti Piccadilly will offer its trademark and elevated take on cicchetti, the authentic Italian plates, designed for sharing, and typically served in traditional bácari (informal bars) in Venice.

“We’re incredibly excited to be doubling our Cicchetti footprint in Piccadilly and open what will be our flagship site. This is a significant milestone for the group, as we look to expand our restaurant sites across the capital. Over the years, we’ve scaled up both in the UK with three new openings in the last couple of years, and internationally with Dubai and Miami opening soon. This new larger site will mean we can continue to cater for increased demand from Londoners and tourists alike,” Marcello Distefano, Managing Director of San Carlo, said.

San Carlo was founded in 1992 in Birmingham and is one of the UK’s most successful restaurant brands, owned by the Distefano family. The restaurant group currently trades from 24 sites across the UK, seven of which are within London including Alto by San Carlo at the rooftop, Selfridges, Isola by San Carlo in St Christopher’s Place, Fumo on St Martin’s Lane, Signor Sassi and San Carlo Cicchetti restaurants in Covent Garden and Knightsbridge; international sites are located in Qatar, Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain and Bangkok with Miami and Dubai opening soon.

The site was leased from GPE.