RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An obligatory gastronomic stop in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, the Camarões restaurant is inaugurating this week its fifth establishment, the first outside its home state. The address hosting the seafood specialist is Avenida Juscelino Kubitschek, 627, in the Vila Nova Conceição district, in the southern zone of São Paulo.
The new location in the São Paulo capital can hold up to 350 people and is the same space that once housed the Brazilian headquarters of P.F. Chang’s, an Asian cuisine establishment which closed its operations in Brazil due to the pandemic.
At the São Paulo Camarões, which so far is not offering delivery or take out on site, 40 options of shellfish dishes will be available on the menu, as well as fish and other seafood. Among the novelties are shrimp and catupiry-stuffed ravioli and a sun dried beef salad.
Imbroglio with Coco Bambu
The similarity between the style of the Camarões and Coco Bambu restaurants is not mere coincidence. In 2017, a court in Rio Grande do Norte found Coco Bambu guilty of “unfair competition,” and the legal conflict remains unresolved.
Founded in 1989, the Rio Grande do Norte Camarões chain accuses Coco Bambu, founded in 2001, of having copied its business model.
According to the rapporteur of the lawsuit brought in 2017, Coco Bambu allegedly copied the menu, recipes and menu layouts, as well as trying to hire Camarões’ staff.
The Coco Bambu chain rejects the accusations and claims that it has also been operating in the gastronomic segment since 1989. With just over 40 restaurants in Brazil, the brand posted revenues of around R$1 billion (US$189.6 million) in 2019. Last year, there was a new achievement: Coco Bambu inaugurated the largest mall restaurant in Brazil, with room for 800 people.
Source: Exame