Business feature: At least four new restaurant chains expected on Prince

Courtesy photo: Fathom McKeown

Jason Jones, left, and Nathan Kwedor of Glikas Enterprises cut a piece of lumber for assembly of the framed wall in the soon-to-be Buffalo Wild Wings and Chipotle building on Prince Street.

Prince Street will soon get the royal treatment on food options, with at least four restaurant chains expected to make their way to the area, according to Clovis’ Building Safety Director Pete Wilt.

In addition to the Chipotle Mexican Grill and Buffalo Wild Wings still under way at the intersection of Prince Street and Llano Estacado Boulevard, more franchises are in the works.

“We’ve got plans for Denny’s and Del Taco,” Wilt said. “Their permits are approved; we’re just waiting on the contractors to pick them up.”

Wilt said he’s unsure of the time frame for construction because it’s “entirely up to the developers” but said both restaurants would be located north of the All Pets Animal Hospital on the 3900 block of Prince Street.

As the public relations account manager at Erwin Penland, the company responsible for Denny’s media, Jillian Hutwagner said the company at the time didn’t have enough information to comment. Del Taco representatives could not be reached for comment.

Open 24 hours a day, Denny’s diners offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. The nearest Denny’s locations to Clovis residents currently include Roswell, Tucumcari and Hobbs.

Del Taco features Mexican-inspired menu items such as burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, paired with fast food classics like burgers and fries. Del Taco operates in Albuquerque, Farmington, Los Lunas and Rio Rancho, with an Alamogordo facility coming soon.

Regarding the progress of the Buffalo Wild Wings and Chipotle restaurants, which will occupy separate units in one building, Wilt said a demolition and shell permit was issued to Lee Lewis Construction, the Lubbock-based contractor for the property.

Lee Lewis Construction then subcontracted the project to Glikas Enterprises, a general construction company in Clovis.

“We are doing general construction for completing the shell work,” Glikas Enterprises Office Manager Fathom McKeown said. “So the shell consists of the renovation of the original building, which has enlarged the square footage and changed the roof line and the demising wall for the two restaurants.”

McKeown said the south end of the building will be Chipotle; the north side will be Buffalo Wild Wings.

A tenant finish-out will take place after the shell is complete, meaning a bidding construction company will finish the project according to each tenant’s standards. The bidding is ongoing, McKeown said, but Glikas is one of the bidders.

“When we are finished with this portion of the contract, both Buffalo Wild Wings and Chipotle have contracted their own general contractors to complete the interior and finish work for the restaurants,” McKeown said. “That bidding process we’ve been privileged to be a part of, but it has not been awarded at this time that we know of.

“Each company is trying to work with local suppliers and contractors on nearly every level, so that’s going to be good for Clovis businesses.”

As for the possibility of Clovis gaining a new bar, being that Buffalo Wild Wings is a sports bar franchise, McKeown said she doesn’t know the restaurant’s plans other than sketches of the interior.

“I understand what the drawing looks like on the inside of the building, but that’s as far as our information goes with how their operation is gonna run,” she said. “Each restaurant looked very typical to all of their chain.”

Barring weather and unforeseen supply issues, the seven primary construction crew members have another five to eight weeks to finish the project, McKeown said.

“We’ve already run into a couple of delays due to material ordering being delayed by suppliers, so it’s a moving target,” she said. “We had a strong gust of wind and rain come through Clovis. It was a quick storm, but it did tear up one wall that we just constructed, so it did set us behind one day.”

While Buffalo Wild Wings representatives could not be reached for comment, Chipotle Public Relations and Communications Manager Danielle Moore confirmed via email that “Chipotle is still slated to open in Clovis in mid-Q4 (quarter four), 2016.”