Nando's Deals & Specials

Nando’s Specials

Latest Deals | August 15, 2020

A home-grown fast-food chain serving a variety of chicken meals.

Nandos is a casual dining restaurant founded in Johannesburg in 1987. It’s most famous product is flame-grilled chicken marinated in a spicy Portuguese-inspired sauce. The business was started by Fernando Duarte and Robert Brozin, who bought a restaurant called Chickenland that was located in the neighbourhood of Rosettenville for R80,000 after tasting its peri-peri chicken. The restaurant, which was renamed Nando’s after Fernando’s first-born son, paid homage to its founders’ Portuguese and African heritage, with the mascot being the Barcelos cockerel and the African Bird’s Eye chili given credit for the marinades’ fiery taste. Within two years, another two Nando’s stores were opened in Johannesburg and another one in Portugal. When the business partners wanted to expand into the UK market, they approached entrepreneur, Dick Enthoven for the funding. It’s largely due to Enthoven’s son, Robby, that Nando’s grew by leaps and bounds in the UK market. The first Nando’s UK outlet opened in the west London borough of Ealing in 1992.

Nando’s is known for its cheeky and sometimes controversial marketing, which pokes fun at political and social issues. The company’s marketing team is often quick to turn a relevant news story into a marketing opportunity, such as the memorable Diversity campaign that was launched in the wake of the xenophobic flare-up in 2012. There are approximately 340 Nandos outlets in the UK – a third of all its global stores. The restaurant has achieved cult status in the market, with celebrities such as Ed Sheeran, Lewis Hamilton, and David Beckham being fans of its flame-grilled chicken. Today, Nandos’ can be found in 23 countries and has over 1,200 restaurants. Their outlets offer takeaway and sit-down meals in a comfortable, laid-back atmosphere.

Nando’s founders originally wanted to name the business Fernando’s but found that the name was already registered to a B&B in a coastal town.