There are a few new openings pencilled in for the next few months. In Edinburgh, keep your peepers peeled for The Chophouse II, Bourbon, The Ninja Kitchen and, possibly opening in Glasgow, Red’s True Barbecue and Franco Manca.

In Edinburgh, The Compass Group has announced that they will open a second Chop House bar and butchery in July.

The new unit will be in the recently redeveloped Arches on East Market Street in Edinburgh’s Old Town. The original Chophouse launched last September in Leith.

As with the Leith branch, the focus of the menu is British beef, butchered in-house then dry-aged for up to 90 days in an on-site specialist fridge before being cooked over an open-flame charcoal grill.

Sociable dining

Sociable dining is central to the brand, with large sharing steaks such as chateaubriand, bone-in rib and porterhouse taking centre stage.

These specialist cuts will be available in varying weights between 500g and 1.2kg and are designed to encourage a sharing experience around the table.

The new venue is larger than the Leith original, laid out over two floors with an extensive bar area, located in a C-listed brickwork arch, originally constructed in 1875.

The developers behind New Waverley have brought nineteen historic arches back to life, creating a brand new retail and leisure destination for Edinburgh.

As well as the growing Chop House brand the group also operates Edinburgh venues Monteiths, Sygn and The WestRoom.

Moving to Frederick Street, Bourbon is a new bar and club which aims to open in June. Apparently, they have spent the best part of a million quid creating a club ‘unlike any other’ and one which will ‘shake up the club scene’.

This 5pm Dining blog writer is well outside their target demographic of clubbers but we are interested in the news that The Ninja Kitchen will be looking after the food side of things.

We understand that the kitchen will be headed up by Markus Pilgram, co-founder of Ninja Buns, last seen at Paradise Palms.

Diners can ‘expect an incredible pan-Asian menu focusing on fresh, authentic ingredients of the highest quality paired with some amazing cocktails and even a craft beer or two’.

Pizza and BBQ in Glasgow

In Glasgow, the ever vigilant Yelp people report that two chains are eyeing up new sites in the city. Word is that Red’s True Barbecue and Franco Manca pizzeria are said to be on the cusp of securing sites.

Franco Manca is reported to already have a site in Edinburgh but I can’t find any mention of it.

If you know better, drop us a line.