5 new restaurants opening in downtown Gilbert
- Zinburger should open at Heritage Marketplace mid- to late-October
- Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana should open at Heritage Marketplace in early 2015
- Barrio Queen should open at Heritage Marketplace in February 2015
- Petersen%27s Old Fashioned Ice Cream should open at Heritage Marketplace in February 2015
Zinburger will be the first restaurant to open in mid- to late-October in downtown Gilbert's Heritage Marketplace, a restaurant-centric development at Gilbert Road and Vaughn Avenue.
Burgers, salads and shakes will be on the menu in the restaurant housed in a barn-style building at the southeastern part of the 2.7-acre commercial project.
Zinburger will hold a job fair starting Monday, Sept. 29, to hire employees from servers to line cooks.
Other restaurant openings should follow through February at Heritage Marketplace.
"All the tenants, based on when their tenant improvements started, are all going to complete at different times," said David Sellers, president of LGE Design Build, the developer.
"Each one is a really well-known restaurant in the Valley. Each one is going to have its own design aesthetic. Each one has got a completely different menu," Sellers said.
Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles
Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles has been filling the parking lot of its soul-food restaurant in downtown Phoenix for 17 years. The restaurant expanded to Scottsdale and, most recently, to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles expects to open in November.
Barrio Queen
The Barrio Cafe is a popular Mexican restaurant in Phoenix and a Barrio Queen opened in Scottsdale in 2012. The sister restaurant in Gilbert remains on track, although its executive chef and co-founder, Silvana Salcido Esparza, is no longer with the restaurant.
Barrio Queen should open in February.
Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana
Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana, which has Phoenix and Scottsdale locations, will have a large indoor/outdoor bar area at the southern end of the complex, facing Zinburger. Pizzas will be fired in a handcrafted brick oven made in Naples, Italy.
Pomo should be ready in January or February.
Petersen's Old Fashioned Ice Cream
Petersen's Old Fashioned Ice Cream, which signed a lease about a month ago, began 95 years ago in Oak Park, just outside Chicago. It has locations in the Chicago area, Wisconsin and Scottsdale.
Petersen's Old Fashioned Ice Cream should be scooping cold treats in February.
LGE Design Build worked with the town to design the project with heritage criteria, while offering modern amenities such as insulated glazing, energy-efficient and renewable materials.
Sellers said that all but one space is leased in the $7 million first phase. Construction of the second phase, estimated to cost another $7 million, is expected to begin in February or March and be completed in the third quarter of next year.
In anticipation of the increased traffic to the area, Gilbert built a four-story parking structure, north of Vaughn Avenue near Ash Street, that opens Oct. 8.
Job Fair at Zinburger
What: Zinburger is hiring positions such as servers, line cooks and dishwashers for its new Gilbert location.
When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, to Saturday, Oct. 4, and Monday, Oct. 6 to Saturday, Oct. 11.
Where: 344 N. Gilbert Road.