An Italian restaurant chain is saying
buon giorno to Greater Baltimore as it expands its presence in malls owned by General Growth Properties Inc.
Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant is spending $1 million to open a 250-seat eatery at White Marsh Mall by the end of October.
The company will hire 80 to staff the 7,000-square-foot restaurant, says John Thall, Buca’s senior vice president of business development.
Owned by Planet Hollywood, the Orlando-based chain operates 88 U.S. and seven international locations, including restaurants in Gaithersburg and Washington, D.C. It recently signed deal with General Growth Properties to open 10 restaurants at its malls in Texas, Illinois, Georgia and six other states.
“Malls attract a lot of energy,” Thall says. The company is looking at regional sites in Southern Maryland, Chesapeake Va., and Winchester, Va., for additional locations.
One of the restaurant’s distinct features is a wine rack holding used, empty bottles. Customers sign the bottles they order and they are left on display in the restaurant, leaving a “good memento for people who want to come back,” Thall says.
Writer: Julekha Dash;
[email protected]
Source: John Thall, Buca di Beppo