Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is the second national restaurant chain to confirm it wants to open at The Strand shopping center, which will be developed near St. Johns Town Center.
The restaurant’s locations typically are 7,000 square feet, seat 255 guests and employ 200 people, according to President and CEO Ian Baines.
Baines said the restaurant will open in fall or winter 2017, pending contract and lease agreements. The Strand is along Town Center Parkway, opposite The Markets at Town Center.
The privately held Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, based in Irving, Texas, operates 165 company-owned locations in 29 states, including 15 in Florida. It was founded in 1979.
The restaurant was formerly known as Cheddar’s Casual Café and some locations continue to operate under that name.
The menu includes appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pasta, burgers, steaks, ribs, fish, desserts, cocktails, beer and wine.
The closest Cheddar’s to Jacksonville is in Daytona Beach. It opens at 11 a.m. daily and closes at 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and midnight Friday-Saturday.
The Daytona menu features favorites, combinations and lighter-side dishes. Salads are in the $8 range, burgers are $6-$7 and chicken entrees are up to $10.49. .The highest-priced item is $15.79 for a rack of ribs.
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen did not say whether Jacksonville could be a multiple-location market, but it said there are four each in Orlando and Tampa.
Firebirds Wood Fired Grill said Monday it will open a 225-seat restaurant at The Strand.
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