Chuck-A-Rama, the family oriented buffet restaurant chain based in Salt Lake City, is opening its seventh facility and first restaurant in Davis County this spring. The restaurant is under construction at the new ShopKo shopping center on 500 West in Bountiful.
Chuck-A-Rama Vice President Duane Moss said the 280-seat restaurant will probably open in April, depending on construction progress.Demand from Davis County and Ogden customers is behind the firm's decision to expand north, Moss said. There are four restaurants in the Salt Lake area and two in Utah Valley.
Moss said the company, which is family owned and operated, looked at sites in Layton and is also considering going back into Ogden, where it had a restaurant about 15 years ago. But the Bountiful expansion is the only one on the menu now, Moss said.
The 8,000-square-foot Bountiful facility is the second in a prototype new design that Chuck-A-Rama is experimenting with, part of a long-range consideration for future expansion or franchise growth, Moss said.
It features food islands in a "scatter system" design, with separate islands for hot foods, salads, dessert bars and other items. Customers pay once at the door and then are free to help themselves.
The Bountiful restaurant will be open seven days a week, for both lunch and dinner, and will employ between 60 and 70 people when it opens, Moss said.