From Business Day Live

More and more food outlets are opening their doors in the central business district (CBD) in Cape Town as the city center continues to attract both local and foreign owned businesses.

According to the Central City Improvement District (CCID), a large number of restaurants, bars and pubs are also offering “happy hour” specials between 5pm and 7pm during the week, “specifically to cater for a workforce wanting to wind down after a busy day at the office.”

The CCID, which is a private-public partnership that provides complementary urban management services to part of the inner city, said on Friday there were more than 230 eateries located throughout the CBD, including coffee shops, food trucks and the more established outlets such as the recently opened Burger King. The maker of the popular Whopper burger partnered Johannesburg-based Grand Parade Investments to set up Burger King South Africa and opened its first local outlet in Cape Town in May.

The CCID said that more food outlets were being lured to the area as it expanded, with a number of companies setting up base in the city centre.

“I am not surprised to see so many different eateries opening shop in the CBD. As the business district expands so does the demand for food to suit all palates. We may not yet be in the league of a place like Manhattan, where one could eat at a new restaurant every day for a year and never go to the same place twice, but watch this space as the central city plays serious catch up,” CCID chairman Rob Kane said.

“Thriving world-class cities, whether London, Sao Paulo, Tokyo or Sydney, attract eateries of all kinds that recognize the business opportunity that a diverse workforce represents and, quite simply, supply the demand.”

Read more at Business Day Live.