Giordano's opens Monday in Des Plaines' Metropolitan Square
A new Giordano's pizzeria, offering carryout, delivery and in-restaurant dining, opens Monday in Des Plaines' Metropolitan Square.
It's the latest business to fill a vacant storefront in the downtown shopping center north of Miner Street and west of River Road.
The 1,700-square-foot Giordano's is between Potbelly and Forever Yogurt, which opened in May. The restaurant, smaller than a full-sized Giordano's, will have 22 seats inside and 16 outside, according to Luke Riehle, the general manager.
Takeout and delivery are expected to be a "very significant percentage of sales," Riehle said, but the owners also want people to come in, sit down and enjoy meals there. The dining areas will have flat-screen TVs, though the restaurant won't serve alcohol.
Syed Hassan, the franchise owner, announced plans to open the Giordano's last fall, but it has taken since then to complete $190,000 worth of renovations and to train the staff. Three cooks spent two months making pizzas at another Giordano's location and learning about the Giordano's brand.
"They're very protective of their product," Riehle said of Giordano's corporate leadership. "They don't want a store to open that won't be successful."
Hassan works for a commissary that has supplied food to Giordano's restaurants for some 25 years, but the Des Plaines restaurant will be the first one he owns.
It will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.