Good news for lovers of home-grown Mexican cuisine and fast-food chicken sandwiches.
Cha Cha's Mexican Restaurant plans to complete its rise from the ashes of an electrical fire by the first week in December.And Chick-fil-A projects its second Mansfield location will open in January, relieving lunchtime crowding at its first location.One of Mansfield's oldest restaurants, Cha Cha's is nearing the end of its rebound after an early-morning kitchen fire shut down the business in early August.Freddy Trevino, co-owner and general manager of Cha Cha's Mexican Restaurant at 1950 FM 157, said the fire started in an ice maker and severely damaged the kitchen and destroyed several appliances. But it was soot and smoke damage that required gutting virtually the entire building and replacing all the furniture and fixtures, he said.Motorists might have noticed large piles of building materials in the parking lot over the past week or two as the work picks up. Although demolishing most of the interior started the day after the fire, the kitchen area was off limits for about a month while Cha Cha's insurance company investigated the fire, Trevino said. Also, the owners had to meet provisions of newer city building codes, including requirements to improve access for disabled people.Trevino said Cha Cha's also has added an outdoor patio for dining.He plans to make a special day out of the 21-year-old restaurant's return, which he expects to occur sometime during the two weeks after Thanksgiving."We're trying to get a more specific date of when we're going to open so we can start planning, to see what we can put together for a grand opening," he said.Trevino said most of his employees stayed with him to help with the renovations, work that his insurance covered for the first two months.He said he's been paying out of pocket to keep several employees working during the past month."I'm hoping they all come back with me" when the restaurant opens, he said. "Most of them have texted or called me that they want to come back."The fire was by far the worst to strike the restaurant, he said, but it wasn't the first."We had a very small fire like 10 years ago," he recalled. "But it probably only kept us down for a day."Chick-fil-A expandsTrying to pick up a Chick-fil-A sandwich for lunch can be challenging, especially during the time limits of a typical workday lunch.With the popular restaurant at 800 N. Walnut Creek Drive swamped with mid-day customers, the staff tries to speed up the drive-thru travel by directing vehicles along a traffic-coned route and taking orders car-side with their headsets.It helps, but what die-hard customers really want is what they're about to get -- a second Chick-fil-A.Don Gonzales, the owner of the existing franchise, is building another in front of the new Kroger Marketplace development called Broad Street Commons, in the southwest corner of the East Broad Street and Texas 360 intersection.Construction started Oct. 22, he said, and he projected the restaurant will open Jan. 24."The community out here has embraced us so well," said Gonzales, who opened the first Mansfield site in 1999. "Most of the people who work for me are in this community. They are in good standing in the community. People know them. I've got 22 employees who have been with us all 13 years."He said the restaurant averaged 600 to 650 customers a day when it opened. Now the figure is about 2,100 a day, 60 percent of whom are drive-thru customers.The store currently has 48 employees, and the new one will have about as many, he said.Gonzales also has a Chick-fil-A at the Parks at Arlington Mall in south Arlington, which he said he will have to give up because corporate franchise policy forbids an owner to have more than two Chick-fil-A eateries."The reason they keep it to two stores is they want to keep us involved in the community," he said. "They don't like you to have other business ventures. They like the idea that you're out here, talking to the customers."The mall Chick-fil-A was his first, opening 21 years ago. But he has chosen to have his two allotted restaurants in the same town."Since we've been open, we've had a great time with these people," he said. "It's been fun growing out here."Starbucks updateThe Starbucks now under construction in front of the Kroger Marketplace at Texas 360 and East Broad Street likely will open by Jan. 1, according to developer W.A. Landreth.The project, which started construction about 90 days ago, is running a little behind his original estimate of a Dec. 1 opening.The coffee shop will be part of a three-tenant building. Landreth, a partner in Vaquero Ventures, said he's working to fill the two remaining spaces, which would complete the entire Kroger complex."They're not done deals yet, so we don't have anything to announce," he said last week.He put an end to rumors that a Schlotzky's sandwich shop is planned to go in next door to the Starbucks -- a common pairing elsewhere.But he said he's interested."Nobody from Schlotzky's has called me," Landreth said. "Put in your article -- 'Schlotzky's, if you're out there, call W.A. Landreth.'"Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
