Giraffe Restaurants is a United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 restaurant and cafe chain, founded in Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

 in 1998 by Juliette & Russel Joffe, and Andrew Jacobs.

Giraffe is owned by the original founders, and has additional financial backing from some private shareholders, 3i

3i

3i Group plc is a multinational private equity and venture capital company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has offices in 13 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas and had total assets under management of £12.7 billion as at 31 March 2011...

 investment group and entrepreneur chairman, Luke Johnson. 3i invested £10 million in the company in 2006 in a deal that valued the chain at £24 million.

Menu

The menu features a variety of dishes ranging from brunch dishes such as: Huevos Rancheros (a mexican tortilla with fried eggs), Full Brunch, Organic Porridge to main dishes including a 100% beef burger to BBQ Chicken Smoked Chicken Quesadilla, Superfood fresh salads, and Duck Stir Fry.

In the Aberdeen branch, they serve exclusive menu items such as locally sourced black pudding and Irn-Bru. The drinks include a cocktail menu, carefully selected wines, hand crafted coffee, Teapigs organic teas and freshly made smoothies.

Branches

The company has 44 restaurants nationwide including fifteen in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The company's only restaurant in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 is in Aberdeen's shopping development, Union Square Aberdeen.

Related restaurants

A new concept, Giraffe Bar & Grill—a sleeker, more urban style bar and restaurant, currently only in Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

—is also under the giraffe umbrella.

Giraffe also introduced another brand under their umbrella, The Giraffe Cafe, which was created with the closure of 2 Giraffe restaurants and re-launched as a new all-date cafe style restaurant with a new design, menu and music. The idea behind the cafe was to refresh exisiting Giraffe restaurants into something more appealing and relevant onto the suburban high street.

Awards

• Junior awards: best restaurant commendation (spring 2011)
• Best family restaurant: Hardens (2011)
• Best in Social Media: caterer web awards (2010)
• Best corporate twitter: goldentwits.com (2011)
• Deal of the year (for tootises acquisition) (2010)
• R150: best family restaurant (2009)
• Peach network: best breakthrough brand (2007)
• Eat out magazine: top 50 foodservice operators (2007)
• Retailers Retailer awards: best emerging concept (2006)
• Observer: best family restaurant (2005)
• Hardens: best brunch (2004 & 2005)
• Retailers retailer: best newcomer (2003)