Full Service

Houston — Fuddruckers has opened its first restaurant in Europe — in Varese, Italy near Milan. The fast casual restaurant is the first of 10 planned by a new franchise partner, Vinum et Alia. Future sites being considered are in Italy, Poland and Switzerland.

The design of the 5,000-sq.-ft., 120-seat restaurant references Fuddruckers’ classic roadhouse origins.

Grand Rapids, Mich. — HopCat has purchased a former restaurant building on Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit and plans to open its third Michigan location in August. Mid-America Real Estate – Michigan represented the seller, Midtown Detroit Inc., in the transaction. Mid-America in cooperation with M Retail Solutions represented HopCat. A mass transit stop is planned directly in front of the building.

With 130 taps, the Midtown location will be the largest craft beer bar in the state. The bar will also offer wine, liquor and a full menu.

St. Louis — The Cordish Cos. and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated the grand opening of the $100 million first phase of Ballpark Village on March 27.

The construction of Ballpark Village represents the next step in the Cardinals’ vision for downtown St. Louis that began with the opening of the $411 million privately financed Busch Stadium in April 2006.

Chattanooga, Tenn. — The Cheesecake Factory and H&M will open at Fayette Mall in Lexington, Ky., as part of a redevelopment by owner CBL & Associates Properties.

The redevelopment will renovate a former Sears store and expand the mall entrance to create 115,000 sq. ft. of new retail space for a mix of fashion and home furnishing stores and restaurants. Construction has begun, and CBL expects the work to be completed this fall.

Dallas — Dickey’s Barbecue will open seven new locations this week — in Kent, Wash.; Richland, Miss.; Vienna, Va.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Clinton Township, Mich.; Yonkers, N.Y.; and Dallas.

The fast-growing 391-unit restaurant chain has added more than 200 stores in the past two years. There are more than 150 stores in development.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. -- Continuing its opening march through Kuwait, Johnny Rockets has opened a new restaurant at the Divonne Restaurant Complex in Kuwait City.

Franchisee Haidar Al-Naqeeb is expanding the American chain in the Arabian Gulf; his first unit opened in December 1995 at Salem Al-Mabarak in Salmiyah, Kuwait.  Since that time, he's grown his portfolio to now include over a dozen franchises in Kuwait, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain with additional openings planned.

Manassas, Va. — Don Lencho Cocina Mexicana has opened at Manassas Shopping Center in Manassas, Va., next to Xtreme Archery. This is the third Washington, D.C., area restaurant owned by the husband and wife team of Juarez and Karen Barroso. The couple also owns Guajillo in Arlington, Va., and Casa Oaxaca in Adams Morgan in Washington, D.C.

The Manassas Shopping Center retail store line-up includes Peebles, Hancock Fabrics, Advance Auto Parts, Tony’s New York Pizza and the Manassas School of Dance.

Seattle – Starbucks reportedly plans to expand a pilot of an evening alcohol and “light bites” menu that includes wine to thousands of stores nationwide. According to Bloomberg, Starbucks executives said the evening food and drink offerings, currently provided in about 40 test stores, will be rolled out during the next several years.

San Antonio -- Stephen Smith, former co-CEO of the Toronto-based restaurant chain owner and operator Cara Operations Limited, has been elected to the CST Brands' board of directors. Smith's most recent experience was with Cara as co-CEO and, prior to that, CFO of Cara. Previously, Smith served for many years as an executive of Canadian grocer, Loblaw Companies Limited.

Los Angeles — A Buffalo Wild Wings Franchisee has signed an agreement to open fast-casual PizzaRev restaurants throughout the St. Louis, Mo., and Austin, Texas, markets.

The PizzaPeel franchise group plans to open four PizzaRevs in Austin and three in St. Louis. The agreement also includes rights to develop both regions further.