New street food openings announced

Street food hall operator Mercato Metropolitano (MM) has unveiled plans to open a further 10 markets in London, Europe and the United States by 2025.

The £35m expansion will target major cities across the world, expecting to create at least 2,000 jobs.

Two new sites are coming to London this summer already at Canary Wharf and Elephant Park, followed by a location in Ilford in autumn. It currently operates two food halls in the capital; Elephant & Castle and another in a former church in Mayfair.

Mercato Metropolitano was founded by Andrea Rasca, a former vice-president of Italian food hall brand Eataly, in Milan in 2015.

Global locations are set to launch in New York, Miami, Boston and Atlanta in the US, whilst new European locations will include Berlin, Lisbon and Milan over the next four years.

Mercato Metropolitano claims it served four million people at its two London markets in 2019 and has incubated over 100 food and drink start-ups to date. NCASS members are currently pitching their ideas to the MM tea as part of the DreaMM project, which gives applicants the opportunity to gain a spot on the MM incubation programme.

Meanwhile, proposals to open a new £1 million street food venue in Manchester city centre this year has moved a step closer to reality.

Society, which is expected to open in spring if restrictions allow, will be a new 350-capacity food and entertainment space and comes from the founders of Assembly Underground in Leeds.