Hungry Nando's customers spitting feathers over chicken drought that sees second store in one week run out of famous Peri Peri dish

  • Diners left in a flap after Nando's branch in Wimbledon runs out of poultry
  • Customers astounded after being told the restaurant had no chicken left
  • Comes just days after Leicester branch of chain ran out of Peri Peri dishes
  • Nando's has blamed popularity of new takeaway service on shortcoming
  • Also blamed drought on diners trying to redeem rewards on paper loyalty cards which are being replaced by plastic cards

Diners have been left spitting feathers after a second branch of Nando's ran out of chicken this week.

Customers in Wimbledon, London were left astounded when staff told them the restaurant had run out of its famous Peri Peri dish.

It comes just days after the Leicester branch of the popular Portuguese-themed restaurant chain also ran out of poultry.

Customers at the Russell Road branch of Nando's in Wimbledon, London were left astounded when staff told them the restaurant had run out of its famous Peri Peri chicken this week

Customers at the Russell Road branch of Nando's in Wimbledon, London were left astounded when staff told them the restaurant had run out of its famous Peri Peri chicken this week

It is thought the shortcomings have been caused by a new online takeaway service launched by the chain resulting in an increase in orders, as well as customers trying to redeem points on their paper loyalty cards before they expire.

However, the Wimbledon branch may also have experienced a surge in diners this week as thousands descended on the town for the annual tennis championships.

One customer, Susan French, 30, tried to dine at the Wimbledon branch after watching the action at the All England Club this week but was told by staff there was no chicken left.

She told the Standard: ‘When I went in they told me they had run out of chicken. It was absolutely ridiculous.

‘They’re a chicken restaurant that can’t serve chicken. I could not believe it. It was a complete joke.’

It came just days after customers took to Twitter to vent their despair after the Leicester restaurant was temporarily unable to serve some of its poultry dishes after running out of the meat.

One user called NestaMcG wrote on Wednesday night: ‘I don’t want to cause mass hysteria but @NandosUK in Leicester has run out of chicken.

‘I’m still coming to terms with what happen [sic]. One colleague is inconsolable.’

Diners in Leicester took to Twitter to vent their despair earlier this week after the branch was temporarily unable to serve chicken dishes after running out of poultry

Diners in Leicester took to Twitter to vent their despair earlier this week after the branch was temporarily unable to serve chicken dishes after running out of poultry

Another customer, Steffan Powell, posted: 'So I'm in @NandosUK in Leicester...and there is no chicken... I repeat NO Chicken...'

Customers have been desperately trying to redeem the final ‘chillies’ on their paper loyalty cards which were set to be made redundant from the beginning of July and replaced with plastic loyalty cards.

Nando's said this, along with the launch of its online takeaway service, had contributed to the chaos.

A spokesman said: ‘The launch of Online Takeaway has been incredibly popular, and with many customers also wanting to use their final remaining chillies on their old paper loyalty cards, unfortunately some restaurants ran out of certain options for a short period of time.

‘We would like to apologise to everyone who couldn’t get their meal of choice, and assure our customers that our restaurants are fully stocked with Per-Peri chicken.’

Nando’s specialises in flame-grilled chicken basted in Peri-Peri sauce and has around 300 restaurants across the UK.

Its popularity has soared over the last few years, partly thanks to its celebrity devotees who often boast about eating at the restaurant.