Restaurant chain doubles down in Richmond

A new Chuy’s restaurant coming at 4731 Brad McNeer Pkwy. It was previously home to a Topeka’s Steakhouse.

A new Chuy’s restaurant coming at 4731 Brad McNeer Pkwy. It was previously home to a Topeka’s Steakhouse.

An Austin, Texas-based Tex-mex chain is cooking up a new location in Chesterfield County.

Chuy’s is set to open its second Richmond-area restaurant this summer at 4731 Brad McNeer Parkway in the Village at Swift Creek shopping center. The publicly traded company signed a ten-year lease for the 7,660-square-foot space.

The Midlothian property had formerly been home to a Topeka’s Steakhouse. The restaurant closed after the group that owned it, Cornett Hospitality, filed for bankruptcy in late 2012.

Michael Hatcher, Chuy’s vice president of real estate and development, said the company plans to spend $1.2 million on remodeling and construction in Midlothian and about $500,000 on fixtures, furniture and equipment.

“We’re going to be a lot brighter,” Hatcher said of the space. “Our décor is kind of a combination of lots of ’50s art deco, a lot of interior Mexican folk art and a little bit of Elvis.”

The restaurant property is owned by BET Investments, a Pennsylvania real estate firm that owns the surrounding shopping center.

The first area Chuy’s opened in April 2013 at West Broad Village, one of nine locations the chain opened last year nationwide.

The brand was launched in 1982 by Mike Young and John Zapp in Austin. Today it has about 50 locations across 14 states. Chuy’s went public in 2012. The company’s net income increased to $11.1 million in the 2013 fiscal year, up from $5.5 million during fiscal year 2012, according to its year-end financial report.

Chuy’s will use Texas-based Parkway Construction to do its general contracting and plans to sub-contract some of the work on the new location to local companies, Hatcher said.

Chuy’s is aiming in 2014 for a 20 percent growth in its locations, Hatcher said. The company is focusing on “backfilling” markets where it has restaurants already open.

Hatcher said Chuy’s liked the location in Chesterfield County because of the area’s recent growth in residential real estate and its presence of college educated young families.

“We love that area. There’s high traffic, great demographics and good spacing from our existing store out,” Hatcher said. “We don’t want to cannibalize existing units.”


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A new Chuy’s restaurant coming at 4731 Brad McNeer Pkwy. It was previously home to a Topeka’s Steakhouse.

A new Chuy’s restaurant coming at 4731 Brad McNeer Pkwy. It was previously home to a Topeka’s Steakhouse.

An Austin, Texas-based Tex-mex chain is cooking up a new location in Chesterfield County.

Chuy’s is set to open its second Richmond-area restaurant this summer at 4731 Brad McNeer Parkway in the Village at Swift Creek shopping center. The publicly traded company signed a ten-year lease for the 7,660-square-foot space.

The Midlothian property had formerly been home to a Topeka’s Steakhouse. The restaurant closed after the group that owned it, Cornett Hospitality, filed for bankruptcy in late 2012.

Michael Hatcher, Chuy’s vice president of real estate and development, said the company plans to spend $1.2 million on remodeling and construction in Midlothian and about $500,000 on fixtures, furniture and equipment.

“We’re going to be a lot brighter,” Hatcher said of the space. “Our décor is kind of a combination of lots of ’50s art deco, a lot of interior Mexican folk art and a little bit of Elvis.”

The restaurant property is owned by BET Investments, a Pennsylvania real estate firm that owns the surrounding shopping center.

The first area Chuy’s opened in April 2013 at West Broad Village, one of nine locations the chain opened last year nationwide.

The brand was launched in 1982 by Mike Young and John Zapp in Austin. Today it has about 50 locations across 14 states. Chuy’s went public in 2012. The company’s net income increased to $11.1 million in the 2013 fiscal year, up from $5.5 million during fiscal year 2012, according to its year-end financial report.

Chuy’s will use Texas-based Parkway Construction to do its general contracting and plans to sub-contract some of the work on the new location to local companies, Hatcher said.

Chuy’s is aiming in 2014 for a 20 percent growth in its locations, Hatcher said. The company is focusing on “backfilling” markets where it has restaurants already open.

Hatcher said Chuy’s liked the location in Chesterfield County because of the area’s recent growth in residential real estate and its presence of college educated young families.

“We love that area. There’s high traffic, great demographics and good spacing from our existing store out,” Hatcher said. “We don’t want to cannibalize existing units.”


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Tom Herrick
Tom Herrick
10 years ago

You know another place that has high traffic, great demographics, and good spacing from your existing store? Charlottesville! Please open a Chuy’s in Charlottesville. I’ll eat their 5 times a week, I promise.

Tom Herrick
Tom Herrick
10 years ago
Reply to  Tom Herrick

I mean ‘…there…’. Why don’t I proofread these things before I post them?