Zambrero has opened a restaurant on Mellor Street in Rochdale, the first UK site to open with support from its Development Agent model. The Mexican quick-service brand opened the unit on 25 September 2026, creating six jobs, and says it is targeting 100 UK sites by 2030 through its franchise programme, putting it among the faster-growing fast food franchises recruiting in the UK.
Zambrero entered the UK market in 2021 and now has 18 sites here. Rochdale is its second opening in September, after a restaurant at Brackmills in Northampton earlier in the month. Existing sites span London, Manchester, Birmingham, Reading, Essex, Basingstoke, Northampton and Glasgow.
The brand describes itself as a modern Mexican quick-service restaurant franchise. Globally, the brand has more than 350 sites across Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States and the UK.
How the Rochdale restaurant is set up
The unit offers dine-in, takeaway and delivery, with seating for 18 customers, and sits near Rochdale town centre and local colleges. The menu covers burritos, bowls, tacos, nachos and quesadillas, with vegetarian, vegan and halal options. The restaurant has created six jobs. It opened on 25 September 2026, and the brand announced it on 1 October.
What the Development Agent model involved
The opening was supported by Zambrero’s Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire Development Agents, Damian Bennett and Dawn Catherall, who gave local guidance and recommendations to the franchise partner.
The restaurant has been opened by a multi-brand franchise operator, which has also committed to opening several more Zambrero sites. The operator has not been named, and no number of further sites or details of the Development Agents’ fees or terms have been given.
What a Development Agent is
In Zambrero’s UK model, Development Agents are regional contacts who support new franchise partners locally. The description of the role comes from the brand’s own announcement, and the terms are not published.
Zambrero’s UK targets
Zambrero is targeting 100 UK sites by 2030 through its franchise programme. With 18 sites trading, that implies about 82 further openings in just over four years, an arithmetic comparison rather than a figure the brand has published, and a rate that depends on recruiting operators rather than on the brand’s own capital, as other networks taking on partners in the UK do.
The brand’s existing sites include one in Glasgow, so its estate already extends beyond England. The Rochdale restaurant is the 18th, and it is the second to open in September, which gives a recent pace of two sites in a month. Spread over the years to 2030, the target works out at roughly 19 openings a year, another arithmetic comparison.
What comes next
The multi-brand operator behind Rochdale has committed to further Zambrero sites, but no sites or dates have been named. Zambrero has also not said how many more restaurants will use the Development Agent route as opposed to opening without one.
A Development Agent matters to prospective franchise partners because it puts a named local contact between the brand and the new operator, although the brand has not published how the agents are rewarded. The brand names its franchise programme as the route to 100 sites, and the brand has not said whether company-owned sites are planned alongside it, a split that is rarely published anywhere across the restaurant networks recruiting in the UK.
