The first Chilli Flames restaurant in Scotland opened recently in Stirling’s Barnton Street.
Brothers Asif and Adil Bashir and their business partner Araf Hamid held a grand opening last month to welcome food-lovers to the new eaterie which serves a wide range of flavoursome burgers, pittas and wraps.
Chilli Flames has several outlets in England and Wales and is renowned for its freshly grilled chicken which comes with a range of tasty marinades and sauces.
The restaurant also serves vegetarian dishes, beef, lamb, salads, a children’s menu and a huge range of sides – so there is something for everyone.Asif said: “When we were looking at the franchise it was the food which stood out for us – it’s just fantastic, we thought it was a great model and that’s the reason we wanted to bring it to Scotland.
Since we opened the response from the public has been phenomenal and we used up what had been planned as a week’s stock of food in just two and a half days!”
“We’ve even had one particular customer who has come in 20 times already to try everything on the menu. We thought it might be quieter when we first opened because there are no students around but it’s been really busy from day one. I think it’s because we are a bit different and it’s not just chicken on offer – we’ve got lamb, beef, veggie dishes, healthy salads and much more – so there’s lots of variety.”
Chilli Flames was due to open earlier this year but plans were delayed because of the Covid-19 crisis and the restaurant opened for business as a takeaway on Saturday June 27.
It will open as a sit-in restaurant on Wednesday July 15 – the date First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has set for pubs and restaurants to allow indoor trade – and there is also a delivery service available via Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
Chilli Flames currently has a one-way system in place for takeaways plus the usual social distancing measures which have been helped by the provision of floor stickers from Go Forth Stirling.
Asif, who lives in Edinburgh, was born and brought up in Bridge of Allan and has many family members still living in the Stirling area. He and Adil also run a post office in Loanhead, Edinburgh which recently won a national award for its support to the local community during the Covid-19 crisis.
He said: “We’re pleased to have brought jobs to Stirling and will be hiring more staff in the near future. Chilli Flames is going brilliantly and the feedback we’ve had has been great. The people of Stirling seem to love our food – the homemade burgers and chicken wings have been particularly popular and of course it’s all about the marinades!”
Chilli Flames is based at 17, Barton Street – the former home of Smiling Jacks Mexican restaurant – and is open daily from 12noon until 10pm with plans to extend the hours from 11am until 11pm.
More details about Chilli Flames and photos of the amazing food on offer can be found on the Facebook page – www.facebook.com/Chilliflamesstirling/
You can also contact the restaurant by calling 01786 357800.
