Demolition begins at future site of Buffalo Wing Wings

Liz Engel Clark
Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Demolition has begun at the former site of Blue Plate Grill. CBJ Photo/Jarrod Conner

COOKEVILLE – Demolition crews were hard at work this week on Interstate Drive, razing one former restaurant in order to make room for another.

Blue Plate Grill, which has been shuttered since early January, is being torn down to make room for a new Buffalo Wild Wings, which will be built in its place at 1385 Interstate Drive. The restaurant is targeting an October opening here, Randy Groover, regional marketing manager for the restaurant, said in April. Buffalo Wild Wings, a chain that boasts more than 800 restaurants nationwide, is famous for its wings, beer and love of sports.

Once the restaurant is up and running, Buffalo Wild Wings is expected to hire between 80-100 employees, Groover said, a number that depends on projected volume and building size; the search has already started for a general and restaurant manager. He said volume estimates were yet to be determined.

“We have smaller restaurants, in smaller towns and cities outside metro areas, that do very well with 200-seat capacities, and we’ve got monstrosities that seat up to 500,” Groover told the CBJ. “We really look at the demographic and the population of the town we’re coming in and go from there.”

Buffalo Wild Wings first submitted preliminary plans for a Cookeville restaurant earlier this year. A commercial building permit, under Blazin’ Wings Inc., a subsidiary of Buffalo Wild Wings, was filed in March with the city of Cookeville, and in April, a demolition permit was issued to that same address. The first permit gave the estimated cost of the new commercial structure at $595,252.

Currently, the closest BW-3’s to Cookeville is in Mt. Juliet.

     1 COMMENT     

Comment on this story

Your Name:


Your Email Address (will not be shown):


Your City/Town:


Your Comment:



Comments containing obvious malicious or obscene content will be deleted.