AN Italian restaurant popular with sports stars and celebs is locked in a bitter legal battle with a rival eatery over its name.
Dining hotspot Cibo has accused another chain in Manchester of trading under the same name without its consent and sponging off its high profile clientele and notoriety.
MEN MediaCibo is a regular haunt for sports stars and celebrities[/caption]
Cristiano Ronaldo is said to be a regularRex
The joint – with branches in Hale, Greater Manchester, and Wilmslow, Cheshire – is said to be loved by football legend Cristiano Ronaldo, champion boxer Tyson Fury and singer Will.i.am.
They are all mentioned in papers filed at the High Court, which identify 17 regular high-profile customers.
Other stars dragged into the case include Manchester United legends Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah, Alison Becker and Darwin Nunez, and Love Island runner-up Molly-Mae Hague.
The papers read: “The claimants’ exceptional level of service, stylish décor and reputation has helped to attract high profile and celebrity customers to their restaurant.
“The claimants’ customers include a range of high profile individuals and celebrities from across the UK, many of whom are known worldwide.”
Bosses at Cibo in Manchester deny copying the name and trading off its competitor’s celebrity credentials and prominence, claiming it opened first.
The word Cibo also means ‘food’ in Italian so cannot be owned, and there are dozens of restaurants using the name across the UK, they added.
Cibo Manchester’s operations manager told the MEN: “We originally opened back in 2013 which can be found everywhere on Google, well before Hale and Wilmslow.
“We opened that in Didsbury called Cibo. We closed it and moved it to Manchester and Liverpool Road as Per Tutti, and then changed it back to Cibo in 2018.
“It means ‘food’ in Italian. If you Google it, it’s a very common name in the UK.
“The owners seem to have got a bee in the bonnet about their name.”
They added that Cibo Manchester also has its own list of celebrity clients, but they “don’t like to boast about it”.
“We have Love Island stars and City and United players but we don’t want to drag them into it,” they added.
It is also alleged that customers get the two restaurant chains confused, the interiors are similar and discount deals at Cibo Manchester cheapen its rival’s “elegance”.
And negative reviews are bringing its TripAdvisor score down as diners leave their complaints about the wrong eatery, it is said.
We 100 per cent will fight it.
Cibo Manchester
One person said: “I love Cibo in Wilmslow and hoped for the same [but] the lasagne was a poor standard.
“It had barely any meat in it at all and the fries were undercooked and hard.
“Not somewhere I would look to go back to.”
But Cibo Manchester denies they commonly get mixed up, insisting that if they do, staff are always “honest” about it.
A spokesperson added: “We 100 per cent will fight it.”
Cibo Hale and Wilmslow is suing Cibo Manchester, Cibo Liverpool Road and Cibo Great Northern, along with four of its directors.
It is seeking damages and an injunction to stop the other restaurants from using the name.
Cibo Hale and Wilmslow, which raked in £4.25million last year, has been used to shoot The Real Housewives of Cheshire.
SplashTyson Fury is also named in papers filed to the High Court[/caption]
AFPWill.i.am is one of 17 high-profile names identified by Cibo Hale and Wilmslow[/caption]
CiboCibo Liverpool Road and its directors are being sued[/caption]
GoogleThe outside of Cibo Manchester[/caption]
CiboCibo Hale is allegedly loved by Love Island’s Molly-Mae Hague[/caption]