Five Guys opening next year at Lindale Mall

CEDAR RAPIDS - A national chain restaurant new to the Corridor as well as two that already operate here will open Cedar Rapids locations over the next six months.

Five Guys of Fairfax County, Va., will open its first Cedar Rapids store in spring 2017 at Lindale Mall near Jared the Gallery of Jewelry.

Five Guys features hand-formed burgers and fries that are cut daily and cooked in 100 percent peanut oil. The Cedar Rapids store also will sell milkshakes, for which customers can choose from various ingredients including salted caramel, coffee, bacon and Oreos.

Firehouse Subs, with 1,000 restaurants 44 states, Canada and Puerto Rico, is preparing to open its second Cedar Rapids location at 2460 Edgewood Road SW, on the perimeter of Westdale.

Franchise owner John Chadima, who also operates the Firehouse Subs in Collins Crossing at 180 Collins Rd. NE, said a Nov. 7 opening is planned for the Westdale store.

'Firehouse Subs has come up with a little bit of a different design,” Chadima said. 'There's more of a wood floor in the customer area, as opposed to the tile floor that we have at Collins Crossing. It will be slightly smaller, but the menu and everything else will be the same.”

Chadima said the Westdale restaurant will employ between 20 and 25 people and feature inside seating as well as several tables for outdoor dining. He said the $90 million Westdale redevelopment appealed to Firehouse Subs' corporate office in Jacksonville, Fla., when it was researching trade areas in the community.

'Edgewood Road, the traffic counts, the demographics and a lot of other things were factored into that,” Chadima said. 'This is the one that stood out along with our location at Collins Crossings, across from Lindale Mall.”

Also, a second Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers will open on Nov. 8 at 2460 Edgewood Road SW, next door to Firehouse Subs. Mike Young, the local franchisee of the Wichita, Kan.-based restaurant chain, opened his initial Cedar Rapids store in 2015 at 2745 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE.

His son, Steven Young, said the Westdale store initially will employ between 80 and 90 people. It will have two drive-up lanes and offer indoor and outdoor seating.

Steven Young also cited the Westdale redevelopment and growing retail activity as reasons for choosing that area for a second store. With Freddy's locations in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, Young said his father is looking at developing additional locations in Iowa and western Illinois.