by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
People in Julington Creek may find it easier to get out of bed this fall as popular breakfast and lunch restaurant Metro Diner prepares to open another location in the area.
An award-winning eatery for its breakfast and key lime pie, the Metro Diner in San Marco has not felt the squeeze of the current economy and plans to expand to Julington Creek by November and, possibly, a Beaches location in the near future.
“The breakfast and lunch restaurants haven’t been affected as much as the dinner restaurants,” said John Davoli, owner of the Metro Diner. “People may not be going out to eat at night as much, but breakfast and lunch markets haven’t really been affected. We haven’t had a down day in nine years.”
This success, combined with customer requests, has prompted the storied eatery to open a second location in Julington Creek near the new Fresh Market at 12795 San Jose Blvd.
“We had a lot of customers asking when we were going to open a diner in Julington Creek,” said Davoli. “Being in a location with Fresh Market is just a good combination. They are known for offering quality, fresh products, just like we offer menu items with the freshest ingredients.”
The new location will be 2,700 square feet and it will offer patio seating just similar to the Hendricks Avenue location.
Davoli plans to keep his “hands on” the San Marco diner and his son, Mark, will run the new Julington Creek diner.
“Mark has been in the food industry all his life and has
done a lot of great things with the menu,” said John. “Our menus are always exciting because they are always changing. Shrimp grits is the latest customer favorite.”
The menu may always be changing, but the Davolis have been working on standardizing their processes for managing the restaurant in order to franchise their product.
“I approached them about franchising about five years ago,” said Bill Saculla, of Alpha Growth Strategies, LLC. “They gave me a call about nine months ago and said they were ready.”
Saculla’s company has helped the Davolis create an operation manual, training program, employee handbook and employee policy manual. The company is also assisting the franchise agreement, real estate site selection, lease negotiation and financing.
“They make great food and they have a great following,” said Saculla. “Why wouldn’t someone want to duplicate this product?”
The Metro Diner franchise could reach the Beach in the near future as well.
“My son John started in the food industry at the same time as Mark did, but he left Cracker Barrel as manager in 2000 to go into the lighting business with a friend,” said father John, who was a regional manager with Cracker Barrel. “The industry has been hurt by the current economy, so he may come back and work with Mark. He may run a location out at the Beach if we decide to open out there.”
The senior Davoli understands there are established eateries at the Beach that would offer some tough competition, but he plans to follow the desires of his customers.
“There is a lot of competition out at the Beach,” said Davoli. “But we have a lot of customers who drive in from the Beach on Saturdays and Sundays who’d like to see us out at the Beach “
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