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ASK Italian

ASK Italian Restaurants Limited
Number of locations
120[1]
OwnerAzzurri Central Limited
Websiteaskitalian.co.uk
Restaurant in Beverley, Yorkshire
Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Interior of the York Assembly Rooms, now an ASK Italian restaurant

ASK Italian Restaurants Limited,[2] trading as ASK or ASK Italian, is a British casual dining restaurant chain that serves Italian cuisine in 65 locations in the United Kingdom.[3]

The chain, founded by brothers Adam and Samuel Kaye in 1993, and floated on AIM in 1995, was the subject of a public-to-private deal in 2004,[4] after which it was merged with Pizza Express[5] to form Gondola Holdings,[6] later part of the Gondola Group. It was acquired along with Zizzi for £250 million by Bridgepoint Capital in February 2015.[7] It was later bought in 2020 by TowerBrook Capital Partners.[8]

The name is made up of the founders' initials, though it is often misunderstood as an acronym for "Authentic Sicilian Kitchen". The chain rebranded itself from "ASK" to "ASK Italian" in 2010.[9]

  1. ^ "ASK Italian building in Canterbury High Street goes on sale". KentOnline. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  2. ^ "ASK ITALIAN RESTAURANTS LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 1 October 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  3. ^ "About us". ASK Italian. Ask Restaurants publication. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Kaye brothers set to bag £15m in Ask Pizza sale". Efinancialnews.com. 23 January 2004. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Merger with Pizza Express". TDR Capital.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Formation of Gondola Holdings". TDR Capital.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Bridgepoint completes £250 million acquisition of ASK ITALIAN and ZIZZI (Press release)". Bridgepoint. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Azzurri Group acquired in pre-pack by Towerbrook Capital Partners". RPBI Openings. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  9. ^ William Drew (16 January 2013). "Ask Italian: Business company profile restaurant magazine". Bighospitality.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
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