A new Mexican restaurant, Gran Ranchero, will join Athens' varied food choices at the end of February.
Emanuel Morales rented out 979 E. State St. in December 2009 to house his second Gran Ranchero, said Tom Vaughn, a landlord of the Continental Property Company, Inc.
His first Gran Ranchero restaurant is in Parkersburg, WV., Morales said.
So many customers drove from Athens to Parkersburg
he said. A lot of people said they wanted one in Athens.
When Morales realized there was a space available, he said he decided to open a restaurant in Athens.
The space once belonged to Cici's Pizza, which vacated in 2006, Vaughn said. The space has been empty since.
When Cici's left, it was stripped of all equipment except for the water heater, bathroom fixtures and old pizza hood, said Dan Gates, partner of the contractor doing the remodel from Flying Hammer Construction.
Because of this, Morales said he and his partners spent about $300,000 to remodel the building.
The two Gran Rancheros are owned by three brothers and two friends, Morales said.
The new restaurant will hold about 220 people, with 64 tables, he said.
Vaughn, who approved the architecture plans, said Morales is using a similar layout to that of Cici's Pizza in order to use the space efficiently and work around the features left from the former resident.
By doing this, Morales and his partners were able to get through construction quickly, Morales said.
Although there are several Mexican restaurants in Athens such as Casa Nueva and Casa Lopez, Morales said he believes his restaurant will be popular.
We have good cheap food Morales said.
Casa Nueva, a non-traditional Mexican restaurant, is not worried about competition from Gran Ranchero, food coordinator, Sarah Slater said.
We're definitely not worried about the restaurant taking any of our business
Slater said. We have been open for 25 years
and we have a very strong following.
Although the new restaurant might take some of its business, Jason Machabo, the manager of Casa Lopez, said that their service is what brings in business.
We have good quality food here
and good people work here
Machabo said. 'We're not too worried about it.'
Gran Ranchero is currently waiting for the approval of a liquor license from City Council, Mayor Paul Wiehl said. The restaurant applied for a
liquor license on Dec. 21; the waiting period is usually 30 days.
The company that owns the building, Continental Properties Company, Inc., is based out of Wisconsin and owns the entire strip of stores from Lowe's to Wal-mart, Vaughn said. The company started developing the area in 2004.
It has been a very successful area because it is a destination place to shop in Athens
Vaughn said. We hope that Gran Ranchero can be just as successful for us.
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