(This story was first posted in March of this year).
The former Romano’s Macaroni Grill location on Concord Pike/Route 202 is slated to be razed to make way for a Longhorn Steakhouse.
Delaware Online reported the restaurant will open next year.
Brittany Baron, communications manager for Longhorn said the company is still early in the process and has “no concrete details to share yet.”
Documents filed with the New Castle County Land Use Department call for the 7,640 square foot location of the Italian chain restaurant to be demolished with the structure replaced by a smaller 5,467 square foot building, with Longhorn’s design.
The razing of the original building requires a minor land-use plan that requires a traffic analysis and other reports.
Longhorn has operated a successful location in the Governor’s Square area in Bear for more than a dozen years and recently opened a restaurant in Dover.
Longhorn is opened by the Darden restaurant chain, which also owns Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, and the upscale Capital Grill steakhouse chain. Bahama Breeze has a location near Christiana Mall. Longhorn has about 500 locations.
Longhorn will fill a gap left when Lone Star last year closed its last Delaware restaurant off Concord Pike.
Longhorn occupies a mid-priced niche in the steakhouse business, slightly below Firebird’s, which has a location off Route 202 in Concordville, PA and the more upscale Sullivan’s, which is located north of the planned Longhorn restaurant.
Texas Roadhouse, which has a location on Route 202 in Pennsylvania, offers a lower price point and more budget-priced items.
The owner of Romano’s Macaroni Grill now owns Sullivan’s, which has about a dozen locations in mid-sized markets that include Tucson, Arizona and Anchorage, Alaska.
Longhorn was founded in Atlanta by steakhouse industry veteran George McKerrow, Jr., who later co-founded Ted’s Montana Grill, which has a location near Christiana Mall. McKerrow was on hand for the opening of the Christiana Ted’s restaurant in 2016.
McKerrow cited his familiarity with the northern Delaware market as a reason for the decision to add the Ted’s location in the state.
