Pizza chain Franco Manca is planning to open a restaurant in Glasgow city centre.
Plans for a restaurant on Mitchell Street – in a building previously used by Oddbins – were approved in May, but a tenant had not been found at the time.
Now, Franco Manca Holdings Ltd has submitted an application to Glasgow City Council to alter the premises’ opening hours from 8am to 11pm to 10am to 12am.
The company, which operates over 40 pizzerias in the UK and Italy, promises “small supplier local ingredients, daily freshly made dough and Neapolitan-inspired cuisine”.
A planning report, submitted with the application approved in May, stated: “Oddbins has recently entered administration and vacated the unit.
“The application is therefore seeking permission for a change of use in order to provide greater flexibility for re-letting the unit.”
The new application states: “The applicant is currently finalising a lease agreement with the property owner, and intends to operate the unit as a pizza restaurant.”
It argues the new opening hours would be in line with the “surrounding uses at this location”. “The surrounding area contains a mix of late-night uses, including bars, restaurants and night clubs.
“The variation will allow the applicant to maximise opportunities to capture trade generated by the surrounding late night activity.”
Franco Manca – Italian for ‘Franco is missing’ – launched in London in 2008, when Francos, a pizzeria in Brixton Market, was taken over by Giuseppe Mascoli.
Since then it has expanded across the UK, with the chain’s first Scottish restaurant opening in Edinburgh this week.
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