A&W’s second outlet in Ang Mo Kio can seat nearly twice as many as its Jewel branch

SINGAPORE — A&W is set to open its second outlet here in July, which will be able to seat nearly twice as many people as its branch at Jewel Changi Airport.

The fast-food chain’s upcoming Ang Mo Kio Hub branch will have 142 seats. Its 80-seat outlet in Jewel, which opened in April, attracted snaking queues even till the wee hours of the morning.

However, unlike its Jewel outlet which operates from 7am to 3am, the new branch will open only from 10am to 10pm daily. 

In a press release on Friday (May 31), A&W Restaurants said the new outlet will have a similar menu to the one in Jewel, which includes classics such as the Chicken Coney Dog, Waffle Ice Cream and Root Beer Float.

There will be special items at both outlets, too, such as the Cream Cheese Chicken Burger, which is only available in Okinawa and Singapore.

A&W added it is also planning to launch breakfast and late-night supper menus later this year, as well as student promotions.

“We are very humbled by the warm welcome we’ve received since our return to Singapore,” A&W Restaurants’ international business development manager Sally See said.

A&W added that its first two outlets in here are “incubators”, and it will periodically launch “unique features” to cater to its customers.

HALAL CERTIFICATION ‘IN NEAR FUTURE’

A&W first entered the Singapore market in 1968, nearly a decade ahead of other fast-food chains such as KFC and McDonald’s.

It opened the island’s first drive-in restaurant at Bukit Timah Road just two years later. 

A&W also obtained halal certification in 1992, which was a first for an American fast-food chain in Singapore, according to National Library Board’s Infopedia. 

The chain was popular with families here, with notable branches in Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, and even on Sentosa's Stewords Riverboat. However, competition from other fast-food rivals drove A&W out of Singapore in 2003. It closed its remaining five outlets on the island that year, with its Hougang branch reportedly the last to shut.

TODAY understands that A&W has yet to apply for halal certification since its return, but a spokesperson said that it plans to do so “in (the) near future”.