Elephant & Barrel to open in Stockwell

Elephant & Barrel, the PubCo, whose partners include a candidate in the current series of BBC TV’s The Apprentice, has secured its third site as it aims to grow into a nationwide business.

Priyesh Bathia is one of four partners behind the opening of an Anglo-Indian pub in London’s Stockwell in June. The former Royal Oak, part of the Heineken-owned owned Star Pubs portfolio, is to renamed The Elephant & Barrel. The other two Elephant & Barrel pubs opened in Fulham two years ago, and Felixstowe in Suffolk in 2025. The pubs all have the “ambience of a traditional English pub with a menu celebrating both British and Indian cuisine.”

The Elephant & Barrel concept was founded by Kumar Pillai and Yogesh Datta, with Bathia and Karan Datta joining latterly. The partners’ plan is to grow a scalable business with nationwide potential. The joint £500,000 revamp by Star Pubs and the partners will transform the Elephant & Barrel in Stockwell.

The exterior will feature a bar with seating for almost 200 customers, six beers on tap and a food truck with a rotating menu of dishes including chicken tikka, pizza, jerk chicken, and seasonal specials.

Bathia, whose experience running a mobile cocktail business is resuting in a small cocktail menu for drinkers, said: “Each Elephant & Barrel pub is a real local with the added appeal of Indian dishes and a signature animatronic life-sized elephant, which children and adults love. We have big plans long term but are taking expansion steadily, ensuring each pub is well established before taking on another site. We are also considering developing a franchise option.”

https://elephantandbarrel.co.uk