Sud Pasta has unveiled its third rebrand in a year as it promised to "bring pasta to the masses".
The Shaw's Road eaterie will be relaunched as Rigatoni's from January 9th having decided to retire the Sud name across its four Greater Manchester restaurants.
Sud had been known as Sugo when it opened in July 2015 and quickly built a reputation as one of the go-to Italian restaurants in the area.
However, it opted to change its name to Sud in February 2023 citing a legal dispute with a Sugo restaurant in Glasgow, although that restaurant had opened four years after the Altrincham version.
Then in September it introduced a downscaled ‘12 Plates’ menu in a bid to cut rising costs, reducing its portions of pasta and recommending that diners enjoy two to three plates a visit.
At the times it said: "In the last 12-18 months our costs have increased by 25-30% yet our income has remained static, the basic maths just weren’t stacking up."
The new concept did not prove a hit with customers, however, and in November it worried regulars by claiming it would "cease to exist" - although it later clarified that it simply meant the brand would be retired and a new concept launched in the new year.
Sud has today unveiled that the new concept will be based around the tubular type of pasta called rigatoni, which is favoured in the south of Italy.
It announced: "This January, we will open a RIGATONI’S in our four Greater Manchester locations. The house-made rigatoni is the star of the show and will be extruded fresh daily at each site through a bronze die, which will give the pasta a rough texture that the sauces will cling to ‘asciutta’ style.
"Change has been a regular thing for us recently - that stops with @letsrigatoni
"Whether it’s a quick lunch on a Tuesday or a Saturday night with mates, RIGATONI’S will be somewhere you can proudly revisit time and time again. With hearty bowls of pasta ranging from £7.50 to £13.50, we’re excited to bring pasta to the masses."
The new concept will launch in Altrincham on January 24th.
