A spectacular all-pink underground subway station has now opened inside the original Archie's burger and milkshake diner in Manchester. The Oxford Road site has undergone a £1m transformation from the Manchester brothers behind the burgeoning brand.
Now they've unveiled the centrepiece of the development - a recreation of a New York style subway train in the basement. Archie's is famous for its all-pink interiors and each new site has offered more inventive places for customers to dine and grab a selfie.
But the pink subway is their most inventive yet - and features video screens to emulate the feeling of being on an actual train. There is booth seating on board though, so you can eat your burgers and shakes while admiring the extraordinary setting.
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Archie's founder Imran Rafiq said: "We just wanted to do something different that hasn't been done before. It's an underground basement in the restaurant so we thought how could we make that exciting?
"So the idea came to create a New York subway but Archie's style. We've got the whole feeling of it with there being a billboard, route map everything you'd expect to see in any subway."
The investment in the original Archie's diner, which first opened in the city 10 years ago, comes amid big plans from the the Manchester-founded company. They have previously announced plans to take Archie's "to the next level" with a multi-million pound rollout of new concept diners across the UK.
The diner was closed for six months for the transformation. The design is all a nod to subway stations in the US, with a mix of pink grids, metal frames with video screens and diner-style seating.
There's even a special Archie's underground route map on display. Naturally it features all of the Archie's locations across Manchester like Piccadilly and the Trafford Centre.
But there are also quirky made-up food stops along the way like "Scrannington Place" and "Cheese Cross".
The main diner serves up the full Archie's menu which is famous for its meaty-piled burgers, crinkle fries and celebrity milkshakes and pink lemonade.
The new-look diner also includes new ways to order including click-and-collect from the table or via kiosk screens as you walk in. It is open from 11am to 2am daily.
The restaurant group was started in Manchester by the Rafiq brothers with the first takeaway shop on Oxford Road back in 2010. They expanded with their first full-on all-pink diner further along Oxford Road in 2013.
This makes it all the more special for co-founder Imran Rafiq to see the bold new look for the Oxford Road diner site.
Imran said: "We've stripped the whole place back to a shell and spent £1m on the full new look. It's important for us as a business to reinvest in our restaurants as well as to grow with new sites across the UK.
"For me this is my flagship, it was the first diner for us and it became a real hub. It's where all the celebrities first came - like Rita Ora, Kevin Hart, The Game, Connor McGregor, Ne Yo."
After the success of Oxford Road, the brothers went on to expand the business with sites across the UK, including huge restaurants at the Trafford Centre and Manchester Airport, and in Birmingham and Liverpool. Next up will be London.
Following a bumper year for its core business, the aim is to double turnover in the year ahead. The company has been able to grow entirely self-funded right from the start.
There are plans for new Archie's Atmomic "super-sites" across the UK in the year ahead. There will also be a second Trafford Park site coming soon - when a new Archie's opens at Trafford Palazzo as part of the huge new Nerf attraction. The family-friendly venue is set to open this summer.
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