A new fried chicken takeaway from YouTube stars The Sidemen and KSI will open at Manchester Arndale on Saturday (November 25) and those looking to visit on the first day are already being advised following a big turn-out at the venue's previous stores.
Sides will serve chicken burgers, wings and tenders, alongside a range of in-house sauces as well as loaded waffle fries, onion rings and chilli poppers. The 1,222 sq ft unit in the Arndale will follow previous Sides stores in Wembley and Croydon, as well as recently-opened restaurants in Dalston and Dudley.
The Merry Hill store saw a mile long queue of people, with some having queued up for around 38 hours, to be the first to get their hands on the double coated, crispy fried chicken last Saturday. It’s thought 10,000 people turned up to the Dalston venue on its first day.
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The opening of the Dudley store on the same day was due to feature an appearance from the YouTubers, who have a combined total of more than 138 million subscribers online, but the stars were forced to abandon plans due to safety fears from Dudley Council following a large turn-out of fans.
Dudley Council had told the Sidemen - made up of rapper and boxer KSI alongside Vikkstar123, W2S, Miniminter, TBJZL, Behzinga and Zerkaa - that the scale of people in attendance meant it would not be safe for them to attend.
Jordan Schwarzenberger, the group’s manager, said last week: "The boys are obviously extremely disappointed to not share this moment with their fans and supporters, but after speaking to the local authorities, public safety has to be our primary focus."
Bosses behind Sides have now confirmed with the M.E.N that the Sidemen will not be attending the opening of the Arndale venue on Saturday - which will begin serving customers from 11am.
Robin Mehta, Sides CEO, said of the new opening: “Manchester has been a location we have wanted to come to for a while now so we are delighted to welcome the city to the Sides community. We like to say that people will come for the hype, but come back for the food, and we feel as if this will be no different at the Arndale branch.
“If you think this brand is only about the Sidemen, you should get down and try the delicious, new and improved menu of freshly cooked, double coated crispy chicken, waffle fries, shakes and side dishes. Everyone at Sides is delighted with the growth of the company and we can’t wait to start serving up our flavourful fried chicken to the people of Manchester.”
The Sidemen raised more than £2.4 million for charity earlier this year following a sold out football match at London Stadium. They have also launched businesses including XIX Vodka and SDMN Clothing, whilst KSI is known to be behind the Prime energy drink alongside Logan Paul.
Sides will open at the Arndale on Saturday at 11am.
