Bismarck Tribune

By CRYSTALRBy CRYSTALR. REID

Regional franchise owners of Ruby Tuesday plan to open a restaurant here by the end of September.

Todd Hoekstra, partner in the company Bismarck Cuisine, which is opening the restaurant, confirmed Thursday he submitted plans for the new restaurant to the city earlier this month.

He added that this restaurant will be a new prototype for Ruby Tuesday, reflecting a change toward a more upscale casual dining atmosphere.

The new building will be located on a 1.268-acre lot just north of Menards, said Jason Tomanek, a Bismarck city planner. It'll be roughly 5,000 square feet, Hoekstra said.

"We felt that the location was good; it had good merit, good retail traffic in the area, good highway to be on, good visibility and is close to the hotels,"Hoekstra said.

Hoekstra said they own six Ruby Tuesday franchises throughout North Dakota and South Dakota, and that the Bismarck area always had been on the radar.

The restaurants typically employ between 75 and 80 full- and part-time employees.

Tomanek said the site plans still need to be approved by a few departments, including some sewage and water issues. But with a few revisions, the permit process could be completed in less than a month.

"I really don't expect that this will take a whole lot of time to be resolved,"he said.