Yum! More eateries coming to Odessa

As Odessa continues its expansion due to the oil boom, two brand new eateries are tentatively planned for the Odessa area along with the grand opening of the first phase of a local entrepreneur’s town center.

Dickey’s Barbeque Pit and Genghis Grill plan to bring locations to Odessa; however, no timeframe has been set to when the new restaurants will open.

Gary Haskell, owner of Haskell Restaurant Group LLC, said in an email he is currently in negotiations to bring Dickey’s to Odessa but nothing has been set in stone.

“I can tell you that we are in negotiations with Dickey's corporate in regards to Odessa and will hopefully have that finalized within the next few months,” Haskell said.

As to where he would build the store, Haskell said he was not sure where the best place for the restaurant would be, but stated because of the continuous expansion of the city, any where would be a good location.

“As you know there are many new developments and of course we would love to be in the middle of it if possible,” he said.

Genghis Grill is also looking to keep “Khanquering” (a term the chain uses when opening a store in a new location) West Texas by adding another location in Odessa.  The Mongolian stir fry restaurant has a location in Midland near the mall.

City of Odessa planning and zoning director Marwan Khoury said while he has not seen official floor plans for the building or issued any building permits, he said he did know the location for the store had been bought and said the restaurant will be constructed close to the Cheddar’s Casual Café near the mall.

“It’ll be about 400 or 500 feet west of that location,” Khoury said.

The Cheddar’s restaurant is still under construction near the Music City Mall and while Khoury said the opening is scheduled for the end of February, it would probably be around April before the doors finally open.

Other planned restaurants for the city include the Rosa’s Café and Tortilla Factory on Highway 191 and Faudree Road and Osaka Japanese Steakhouse will be moving to the same location, Khoury said.

McAlister’s Deli is also in talks with the city to add another location at the corner of West County Road and Kermit Highway; however, Khoury said no formal deal has been set.

But restaurants are the only growth happening in the city. Growth in retail business is also on the rise and some stores could be seen in Collin Sewell’s planned Parks Legado Town Center.

The proposed 68-acre, mixed-use development is expected to include retail stores, restaurants, office space and residential housing. The website for the project states phase one includes a 120-room Residence Inn by Marriott, shops, restaurants, a bank and offices.

The website also states the scheduled opening for the first part of the project is fall of 2012.

The types of restaurants or business for the proposed opening are unknown and a spokeswoman who works with Sewell said he would not comment on the project and all information regarding Parks Legado was available on the website.

The Chimney Rock Center on 191 and northeast of Loop 338 also has some plans of it’s own.

Kornel Romada, assistant vice president of the Woodmont Company, said cosmetics store ULTA, clothing store Marshalls and Kirklands, a home decor store, have lease agreements with the leasing agency to place stores where the Best Buy and Academy Sports and Outdoors currently reside.

“I would say they have an estimated opening of fall 2012,” Romada said.

Other national brands are also in negotiation to opening stores in the shopping center, but Romada said as of now, they were still negotiating contracts and nothing has been finalized.

With the sudden expansion of the city and the numerous planned retail stores and restaurants, Khoury said in his 33 years of working with the city, he has never seen the amount of growth that is happening now.

“Most of the concentration is going on the northwest, but that’s where the businesses want to go,” he said.

@OAgovernment