Restaurants

Wieser starts new career as restaurateur with Qdoba franchises

Long-time Cape Girardeau automobile dealer Jerry Wieser will be going into partnership with his son, Keith Wieser, and son-in-law, Richard Davidson, with the aim of opening three Qdoba Mexican Grill locations in the next three years.

The new restaurants, which will be in Cape Girardeau, the Marion-Carbondale Ill. market and Paducah, Ky., are something he's helping finance and get started as a business for his children, he said.

Qdoba puts itself in the "fast-casual" dining category, which means you order your food at the counter and it is served on a tray, but the atmosphere has a little more of an adult approach to the dining experience. For example, the typical Qdoba serves margaritas and beer.

While he didn't go looking for a Mexican restaurant as a business opportunity, Wieser said he fell in love with the restaurant and its food during trips to St. Louis, where the company operates 15 corporate-owned restaurants.

The restaurant business plan seemed like a good fit here, where similar-style dining, such as Panera and My Daddy's Cheesecake, do very well.

Davidson, Wieser's son-in-law, has extensive restaurant experience, including Kentucky Fried Chicken and Sonic Restaurants. But for the past 10 years, he, too has been in the auto business and currently is employed at Coad Toyota.

Wieser and Davidson said they are looking for a good spot on the west side of Cape Girardeau.

Founded in 1995, Qdoba has more than 400 locations in 39 states. It is currently owned by the Jack in the Box Inc. In a news release announcing the Wieser franchises, the company said it had been named by Technomic Consultants as the fastest-growing restaurant concept with system-wide sales of $200 million or more.

New club

The former House Party bar at 820 N. Sprigg St. will undergo some renovations as a nightclub to be called Slinger's, business owner Shaun Langford said. He's partnering with Brian Williams, and they are both from St. Louis.

Langford promised a variety of live musical acts as well as disc jockeys for dance nights. They hope to open by mid-July.

Langford said his partner has competed in the International Flair Bartending competition, so visitors can expect to see some fancy bottle flipping as they await their order.

Diner opens

The Huddle House restaurant on the west side of Kingshighway at Broadway has opened.

Burgers on Broadway

Steve Majeed is in the middle of renovating the small gas station office at Frederick and Broadway into a restaurant that will be known as Steve's Steakburgers, offering what he calls New York-style burgers with a business plan that includes staying open until 2:30 a.m. to catch students and others returning from an evening downtown.

There will be an outside seating area and takeaway food. Thick steakburgers, gyros, big New York-style hot dogs and side orders will be the staples of his fare, he said.

The opening date hasn't been set, but he expects to be in business well ahead of the return of Southeast Missouri State University students.

Restaurant moves

Su Hill has moved Saffron restaurant to Regents Parc at 1610 N. Kingshighway, a new office and retail development owned by Mayson Investments. The restaurant reopened with a cozier setting, outdoor seating and, later, a pickup window.

The new location offers easier access, a no-smoking atmosphere and hopes to draw more customers from Jackson and travelers along Interstate 55.

Restaurant under construction

The Beef O'Brady's restaurant, a family-style pub chain Lee Hillman of Cape Girardeau and Robert McGillivray became franchisees for last July, is under construction. A building permit for remodeling 3,510 square feet at 1812 Carondolet at an estimated cost of $160,000 was issued recently.

Drop Zone changes ownership

The Drop Zone restaurant at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport has changed hands. The new owner, Sandy Ladd, will call the restaurant Sandy's Place. The restaurant's offerings will not change dramatically, she said.

Restaurant renovations

Two Sonic Restaurants in Cape Girardeau are undergoing a face lift. The $110,000 project for the restaurants off Broadway and on North Kingshighway included a replacement for the awnings that extend over cars waiting for orders and new signs promoting Sonic's offerings.

New lunch hours

Marquette Restaurant & Bar, 338 Broadway, is expanding its hours, owner James Allen said in a news release. The restaurant, which features upscale casual dining, will now be open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays.

Transportation

Ground broken for LaSalle Street

A ground-breaking ceremony for construction of LaSalle Avenue, which will connect Route W in northern Cape Girardeau to East Main Street in Jackson was held recently. Until LaSalle is built residents in Jackson who commute to Cape will still have to use I-55 in order to get to their jobs.

The construction complements the expected future growth of Cape Girardeau, city leaders said.

Other growth and land development has taken place near mile marker 102. Whispering Oaks Subdivision is located about a quarter-mile south of the road and Jaycees Municipal Golf Course is located on Perry Avenue near Route W.

The 1.95 miles that will make up La Salle will stem from the road that MoDOT built as part of the interchange. The road will change from four to two lanes as it stretches toward Route W. Close to the highway, commercial development is expected along the northern side of the road and to the southern side, where Southeast Missouri State University owns land.

Development of LaSalle is expected to be completed by Christmas 2008.

Construction costs are expected to be $3.4 million.

$6 million for area transportation projects

U.S. Senator Kit Bond has announced the U.S. Department of Transportation released more than $6 million in federal funds for transportation projects in the Southeast Missouri.

As ranking member of the Senate subcommittee that funds the Department of Transportation, Bond secured these funds in the fiscal year 2008 spending bill.The DOT released funds for the following Missouri projects:

$1.8 million for the Route D Road Improvement Project in Pemiscot County.This project will extend Route D (Port Road) from its intersection with Route 84 southward to Interstate 155 using a modified alignment of County Road 337.This corridor is expected to become the primary truck route for commercial traffic entering and leaving the Pemiscot Port Authority and Western Tennessee, thus removing this traffic from downtown Caruthersville.As part of a previous State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) project this phase has preliminary design work and an environmental assessment done

$367,500 for Caruthersville Downtown Infrastructure Road Redevelopment in Caruthersville. This project will consist of an overlay on Ward Ave. from 7th St. to Riverfront St. and on Walker Ave. from the seawall to 7th Ave.

$2.2 million for Highway 67 (Wappapello Bridge) Four Lane Improvement Project in Wayne County.This project will construct a new four-lane bridge over Wappapello Lake. This bridge will match the four-lane US Route 67 project. Construction on the bridge is currently underway.

$735,000 for Route EE Road/Multi-Modal Improvement Project in New Madrid County. This project constructs road improvements including paving into the St. Jude Industrial Park and New Madrid County Port Authority. This project will increase safety and capacity in the industrial park.

$735,000 for Route AB/Nash Road Improvement Project in Scott County.This project involves road improvements at Route AB/Nash Road in the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority.Key goals of the project include increased capacity and mobility in the port area.

$558,600 for Route AB Route Extension in Cape Girardeau.This project will construct an extension of Route AB from existing Route AB to Missouri Routes 25 and 77.The extension will create a more direct route to and from the port and Route 25 enhancing economic development.Cape Girardeau County is responsible for acquiring right of way and constructing an embankment on the existing county road alignment for this project.This project will be awarded in December 2009.