BATAVIA — Interior work is progressing for a new Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant that is expected to open by the middle of this month in the Towne Center shopping plaza off Veterans Memorial Drive.
A Five Guys sign went up at the location Thursday. Operators are looking at opening for business the week of Oct. 12, said Reid Richards, one of the franchise owners.
The restaurant will be the 12th in Western New York for the chain that was started by a father and his four sons in the Washington, D.C., area in 1986 and now has more than 1,300 locations, mostly in the U.S. and Canada, according to Richards. The new operation will employ 40 to 45 workers, most of them part-time, but 10 to 15 full-time, he said during an interview at the site.
The facility encompasses about 2,650 square feet in the former Radio Shack location in the plaza building that houses Game Stop and Metro Mattress. Richards said that is about normal size for a Five Guys restaurant that specializes in hamburgers and French fries, but also offers hot dogs, grilled cheese and veggie sandwiches.
The Batavia location will seat 72 people, he said, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
Richards said officials like the location in a plaza that has had considerable growth in recent years and is close to Batavia’s Thruway Interchange and several hotels and motels.
“We’ve wanted to come to Batavia for a long time,’’ he said.
Crews have been working inside the premises for about eight weeks to transform it from an electronics store to a restaurant, Richards said. That included ripping out the ceiling and back walls and putting in new lights and flooring.
“It’s mostly just finish work at this point,’’ he said.
