6 of 6
BACKNEXT
Wagamama
Wagamama
Origins: U.K.
U.S. stores: 3
Where: Boston

Hong Kong-born Alan Yau opened his first noodle joint near the British Museum in 1992. He then sold his Wagamama concept to the private-equity investors at Lion Capital, who have also invested in American Apparel and Jimmy Choo.

They have turned it into a global chain of pan-Asian restaurants serving a fusion of noodle and rice cuisines, like katsu curry rice with sweet potato and eggplant. Last year, Zagat's London edition named the chain of more than 100 locations the city's favorite restaurant.

Wagamama, roughly translated from Japanese as "selfish child," has made it as far as Sydney, Dubai, and Cairo -- and it's now in the United States. The first of three locations in Boston opened in 2007, and next year, Wagamama's coming to Washington, D.C.

More galleries
Last updated August 26 2009: 2:26 PM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
More Galleries
5 biggest share buybacks of 2014 Stock repurchases are booming. These five companies are ready to spend over $79 billion on buybacks. More
10 horrifying corporate mascots McDonald's Happy is part of a long lineage of creatures great and small that shill for products and mortify consumers. Mr. Mucus, anyone? More
5 best cities to launch a career The top spots in the U.S. for new grads to land a job -- and actually enjoy life -- according to financial site WalletHub. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.