PizzaExpress, which holds the UK franchise rights to Houston Hot Chicken, will open the American hot chicken chain’s second UK restaurant this winter at the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury. The opening follows Houston Hot Chicken’s first UK site in Stevenage, as PizzaExpress targets 50 UK locations for the brand within three years.
Founded in the United States in 2020 and backed by the private equity firm Savory Fund, Houston Hot Chicken has grown quickly, ranking 217th on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private US companies. PizzaExpress announced the UK partnership in June 2026, describing the brand as an addition to its “house of brands” alongside its core pizza restaurants. The deal marks Houston Hot Chicken’s first move outside the United States, with PizzaExpress operating as its exclusive UK franchise holder rather than recruiting individual franchisees.
Second site opens at the Brunswick Centre this winter
Houston Hot Chicken’s second UK restaurant will open at the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury, near Russell Square, this winter. The Brunswick Centre is an established retail and residential development in central London, giving the brand a second, higher-footfall London location to sit alongside its Stevenage debut. That first site, confirmed in August 2026, was Houston Hot Chicken’s international debut outside the United States. PizzaExpress has not given exact opening dates for either restaurant beyond the season stated, and has not said whether the Bloomsbury site will follow the same format as Stevenage or a variant suited to central London footfall, where rents and staffing costs both run higher than in a Hertfordshire town centre.
A master franchise held by PizzaExpress, not an individual franchise
The arrangement between PizzaExpress and Houston Hot Chicken is a master franchise: PizzaExpress holds the rights to operate the brand across the UK and runs the restaurants itself, rather than recruiting franchisees site by site. Neither company has disclosed the length of the agreement, the territory it covers beyond the UK, or whether it extends to Ireland. That structure leaves no current route for an independent operator to apply directly to Houston Hot Chicken for a UK site, unlike the more conventional route set out in our guide to opening a franchise in England, where individual applicants typically apply directly to a franchisor.
Good to know
There is no separate Houston Hot Chicken franchise application in the UK: PizzaExpress operates every site itself under its master franchise rights. Readers looking for a franchise they can apply to individually can browse current UK fast food franchise opportunities.
50 UK sites targeted within three years
PizzaExpress has said it plans three Houston Hot Chicken openings during 2026 and is targeting 50 UK restaurants within three years, though it has not named further locations beyond Stevenage and Bloomsbury. Reaching that figure would put Houston Hot Chicken at roughly a seventh the size of PizzaExpress’s own pizza estate within three years, a fast pace by UK restaurant standards. The move adds a second brand to PizzaExpress’s portfolio, and fits a wider pattern this year. PizzaExpress has not said whether it will eventually open Houston Hot Chicken to sub-franchisees, or continue to operate every site itself.
