The Varina location is planned to be the first of multiple Richmond-area Culver’s. (Courtesy Thalhimer)
A taste of the Midwest is inbound to eastern Henrico.
Culver’s, a Wisconsin-born restaurant chain whose signature menu items are burgers, fried cheese curds and frozen custard, is preparing to enter the Richmond market with a location at 4306 S. Laburnum Ave. near White Oak Village.
Since its founding in 1984, Culver’s has grown into a staple of fast-casual Midwest dining with more than 1,000 locations nationwide.
The new Laburnum spot will be owned and operated by a Culver’s franchise group, S&L Cos. Jeff Liegel, co-founder of S&L, said Culver’s ButterBurgers are among its best-selling products.
“We lightly butter the crown (of the bun), toast it and use a fresh beef patty. That’s definitely our hero product,” Liegel said. “But cheese curds are probably No. 2, so that’ll probably be new to the area.”
Liegel said his group, which owns about 100 Culver’s locations, has wanted to enter the Richmond market for years but was waiting on Culver’s to establish a network of local vendors for its ingredients to open up the market.
With those pieces in place, S&L recently purchased the 1.7-acre Laburnum property for $1.6 million. It’s an approach Liegel said his group usually takes when expanding.
“Culver’s is big on owning real estate for a long-term investment. Once we come to an area, we don’t ever plan on leaving,” he said.
The existing building on the site will be demolished. (Mike Platania photo)
On the Laburnum parcel is a vacant restaurant building that had been an Applebee’s and later a Juicy Crab, but Liegel said S&L is planning to raze it and build a 4,600-square-foot building for Culver’s.
The sale was announced this week by Thalhimer, whose brokers Alex Wotring and Bruce Bugger represented S&L in the deal. Henrico County most recently assessed the parcel at $1.2 million. Range Commercial Partners’ Hamilton Shaheen represented the seller.
S&L is getting set to begin planning and permitting for the new restaurant, an effort the team is working on with engineering firm Terracon. After that, Liegel said S&L will put the project out to bid with hopes of having the restaurant open within a year.
Liegel said the restaurant will likely be open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and be staffed by about 90 people.
While S&L owns the land and sets up its Culver’s locations, Liegel said it usually looks to sell the locations to the store’s general managers about a year after opening.
The franchise group isn’t done in the Richmond area, either. Liegel said S&L is looking to eventually open 10 Culver’s from Richmond to Newport News.
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Dining and Cooking