BBQing enters Lisbon district with a restaurant in Cascais

BBQing has entered Portugal’s Lisbon district with the opening of a restaurant in São Domingos de Rana, in the municipality of Cascais. The venue began trading in late May and is the latest addition to a chain of six restaurants. The opening was reported on 13 October by NiT, which spoke to the brand about its franchise expansion.

São Domingos de Rana paves the way for Lisbon expansion

The opening marks BBQing’s arrival in an area its management had already targeted. Founded by a couple to bring Brazilian barbecue skewers to Portugal, the brand continues to grow five years after the project began.

According to NiT’s report, the choice of São Domingos de Rana came down to two factors: interest from a prospective franchisee looking to develop the concept in the Lisbon area, and the availability of premises previously used as a restaurant.

Contact with the candidate began in March. At the same time, an opportunity arose to take over a former restaurant through a business and lease transfer, known in Portugal as a trespasse. The new venue opened in late May, marking the chain’s arrival in the Lisbon district.

It is important to distinguish the opening date from the date of the news report: the restaurant did not open in October. The information published that month sheds light on the steps that brought the brand to Cascais and its management’s plans for further growth.

Applications alone do not determine partner selection

BBQing operates a franchise model, as Daniel, one of the people running the chain, explained to NiT. The search for partners to support expansion further south had already generated enquiries before this restaurant took shape.

“As we operate a franchise model, we had been receiving applications from people who wanted to open our concept further south. But it is not always easy to find the right people,” he said.

His comments put the opening into context: interest from prospective franchisees did not automatically translate into new restaurants. In this case, the project moved forward when an application coincided with the opportunity to use available premises in São Domingos de Rana.

For those in the franchise sector, this is the most relevant aspect of the process described by the brand. Expansion is presented not simply as a geographical choice, but also as a matter of finding the right person to develop the business and a suitable site for the concept. In this instance, those two conditions came together.

A Brazilian concept with six restaurants

BBQing’s offering centres on Brazilian barbecue skewers. This is the concept the chain has been rolling out across Portugal and which is now available in the municipality of Cascais.

According to NiT’s report, the network has six restaurants, with São Domingos de Rana the most recent opening. That figure reflects the chain’s size at the time of publication, rather than a future growth target.

The Cascais restaurant therefore extends the brand’s geographical reach. Its significance for the franchise sector lies both in the opening itself and in the process behind it: an application for the Lisbon area, a restaurant available for takeover, and the decision to launch the concept at that location.

Further Lisbon expansion remains on the agenda

The management team intends to continue expanding BBQing into other parts of Lisbon, citing Parque das Nações as one example. This is a growth ambition, distinct from the restaurant already opened in São Domingos de Rana.

For anyone considering applying to join the network, the practical takeaway is to distinguish between operating restaurants and target locations. Before making any commitments, it is worth asking the brand directly about the type of partner it is seeking and its criteria for choosing premises: these were precisely the two factors that enabled its arrival in Cascais.