A message from Mark & Lindsay
Abokado was born out of a dream. A dream of being masters of our own destiny. A dream of creating something we could be proud of. And a vision to change the way we and other people ate. Here’s our story…
It was 2002 and I had piled on the pounds while working long hours in the City, while Lindsay had got disillusioned with her work (and fed up with letting out my trousers!).
We’d recently got married and thought ‘to hell with it’, let’s go see the world. We sold our flat, got a couple of round-the world tickets and hit the road.
Half way through our trip we landed in Sydney and were amazed to find it crammed with great value sushi, juice and noodle bars. We ate nothing else for the next week.
We thought back to our boring mayonnaise-filled sandwich lunches in London and thought - why can’t we bring this amazing food back home?
So we bid farewell to the Southern Hemisphere and returned to the UK. After many late nights, some sweat, blood and more than a few tears, we proudly opened our first shop in Covent Garden in the spring of 2004.
Our first shop had a kitchen the size of a postage stamp, no AC and a basement that regularly flooded. It was boiling hot in the summer, freezing in the winter and seemed to be a magnet for all the petty thieves in London. But for the next two years it was home. We began to build a loyal following for our unique range of food and the crazy dream started to turn into reality.
We now have around 25 shops spread across the City and West End and are supported by a passionate and hard working team of whom we’re extremely proud.
Our plan is to continue growing the business by doing what we have always done – continually focusing on quality, service and value.
Our vision is to make our Feel Great menu accessible to more and more people so everyone can lead happier and healthier lives.
Thanks for your support and welcome on board!
Mark & Lindsay Lilley