Another city restaurant will be opening before the end of the year and will specialise in grilled meats and foods.
Located on the upper floor of the Middle and Camp streets building that will house Mario’s Pizza, Pollo Tropical, and a Church’s Chicken drive-thru on the lower flat, the planned ‘ Froggy’s Grille’ is expected to be opened in time for the Christmas holidays.
Stabroek News spoke to Eon Gouveia, the restaurateur and owner of the property who explained the motivation behind investing in the restaurant which he promises will be a welcome difference.
“The demand is there for something different. With all the influx of business investors and tourists right now, we decided to do this. Give them a change from having the same things every time and all the food will be grilled.”
He disclosed that it would be able to seat about 100 persons at a time and arrangements regarding opening hours and planned staffing were still being ironed out, even as construction works continue.
Currently, the building is under renovation with contractors working overtime to meet the year-end deadline.
On the ground floor, Camex proprietor, Terrence Campbell, mentioned that he will be re-launching the Mario’s Pizza and Pollo Tropical franchises.
A Church’s Chicken drive-thru is also being prepared at the location.
Campbell too, is pushing for a holiday season opening, but noted that there is still a global supply chain problem that might set back plans to sometime in January of 2023.
“We want to be finished by end of the year but we don’t know if that will be possible as yet. There are supply chain issues with equipment …”
In 2020, Camex had announced a partnership with a regional private equity fund to expand the company’s operations here in Guyana and across the Caribbean.
A joint release from Camex Restaurants Inc. and SEAF Caribbean SME Growth Fund had stated that SEAF Caribbean SME Growth Fund had acquired a majority ownership interest in Camex Restaurants Inc. in Guyana. The transaction had been completed that same year and was expected to enable the fast food restaurant franchisee to push its growth and expansion plans.
Founded in 2006, the release had said that Camex Restaurants Inc is Guyana’s largest restaurant operator with 28 franchise/locations spread across Guyana with five brands including Church’s Chicken, Dairy Queen, Pollo Tropical, Mario’s Pizza, and Quiznos. After having established a presence here in Guyana, Campbell who is Camex’s founder, felt that it was time to bring in an international partner to drive through the next phase of growth.
According to the release, the investment in Camex is the first for the SEAF Fund which was launched last October with its regional office in Kingston, Jamaica. With this new partnership, Camex plans to develop and add new brands to its portfolio, whilst simultaneously expanding operations across the Caricom region.
The Camp Street location had once housed Mario’s Pizza and the US sub sandwich chain, Quiznos. However, where Quiznos was located will now be replaced with the Pollo Tropical restaurant and a separate area will house Church’s Chicken.
Right across the road on Middle Street, Church’s has another branch but Campbell explained that the demand for a drive-thru business forced the expansion. He explained that he will assess the drive-thru entity to determine if it would be a 24/7 service, but for now it will only be open during normal Church’s hours.
