The Cockeyed Rooster Cafe plans to open a second location in Newport News, near Christopher Newport University.
The restaurant has operated in Smithfield since 2015, serving breakfast and lunch.
“It will remain open,” said Chris Christou, who owns the restaurant with his son Michael.
Eggs Benedict at The Cockeyed Rooster Cafe in Smithfield. The second location, in Newport News, will be near Christopher Newport University in Hidenwood Shopping Center. (Courtesy/Cockeyed Rooster Cafe)
The new spot — the former Byrd’s Restaurant in Hidenwood Shopping Center — is smaller but will offer mostly the same menu, such as the apple cobbler French toast, the club sandwich with meats sliced in-house and eggs Benedict options.
Customers will be able to order the restaurant’s fresh-squeezed orange juice and mimosas, and new items will include orange crushes and bloody marys.
The father-son duo say they look forward to seeing new and familiar faces as well as former customers.
Chris Christou is no stranger to breakfast. He partnered with George Proferes to open multiple Waffletown USA franchises in the 1980s and ventured out on his own with two Belgian Waffle and Steak House locations that his mother helped manage before he sold them (the original operated for three decades). He also owned and operated Waffles and Co. on Jefferson Avenue through the ’90s.
“This will be my eighth restaurant,” he said.
The owners said they hope to open by late September to early October so that they can create another place where everyone feels like family.
Rekaya Gibson, 757-295-8809, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com
Dining and Cooking