Nando's is making its Krog Street Market debut. Global Atlanta reported the South African peri-peri chicken chain plans to open its third metro Atlanta location at the Inman Park food hall in June, with timing built around the FIFA World Cup, when South Africa's national team is expected to play matches in Atlanta and pull a wave of South African visitors with it.
The brand's footprint in the U.S. has crept along quietly for years, but Atlanta has been one of the surprise expansion markets. The South African export traces its roots to a Portuguese restaurant in Johannesburg in the 1980s, and the menu still reads like that origin story. Flame-grilled peri-peri chicken in heat levels from lemon-and-herb up through extra-hot, sides of macho peas and Portuguese rice, and a bottled hot sauce program that has its own following on the British and South African internet.
Krog Street Market is the right home for a brand like this. Anchored by Hop City, Yalla, and the Ticonderoga Club, the food hall has filled out over the last decade as a destination for the kind of regional and international concepts that do not fit the standard fast-casual mold. Nando's slots in alongside that lineup naturally, especially with the casual peri-peri table-service-with-counter-ordering format the chain runs in its U.S. shops. The Krog location is also walking distance from the BeltLine's Eastside Trail, which means foot traffic both day and night.
The World Cup tie-in is the part that may matter most for the timing. Global Atlanta's framing was clear. Opening just before South Africa's matches puts Nando's in front of a massive captive audience of homesick fans, traveling press, and Atlantans curious enough about a brand they have read about for years to walk in. June is also the start of the city's outdoor patio season, which Krog Street's setup is built to capture. Two existing Atlanta locations have been laying the groundwork. The Krog opening is the brand's biggest Atlanta moment yet.
