This past Saturday night we decided to try out Nando's. A fast casual dining experience that specializes in Portuguese flame broiled chicken. We tried the new opened Nando's at Park Place, in Barrie, Ontario. I'll be quite frank I'd hadn't heard of this chain that originated out of Richmond B.C.
Aesthetically, the restaurant about 2,000 sq.ft. was nicely design, with high ceilings and decorated with South African art on the walls.
The concept works like this , a greeter sits at your table. After reviewing the easy to read and well organized menu, you proceed to one of the three cashiers at the back counter next to the kitchen, place your order and pay in advance. At this particular Nando's you now need to walk from one end to the other to obtain your cutlery and soft drinks. A somewhat unique offering is their soft drink dispenser which allows you to choose from hundreds of selections from the Coke, Fanta, Pepsi, to rare brands. At the time the restaurant was 60 to 70% full. There isn't a lot of space to be place your order at the rear counter nor is there plenty of room located by the lone soft drink dispenser. In addition, Nando's does a huge take out business. Customers coming to pick up their orders are entering a side door at the cash counter. On this particular evening the logistics worked well, however I could see problems occurring quickly when they were at full capacity. It's tight, line ups would quickly become frustrated not only for those in line but for those sitting at a table.
Nando's also has a liquor license so you can order wine and beer.
Our food came at once. Fast casual dining ; they certainly past the test. I had the half chicken with lemon and herb and it was extremely good. Moist, tender on par or better than Swiss Chalet. We order the Peri-Peri potato wedges which we had been told were amazing. They looked amazing and that's about it.
I left with mixed emotions about the overall concept. Truly, intrigue with place your own order in advance method.
