BRIO Tuscan Grille intends to open its first Jacksonville restaurant in September in the St. Johns Town Center and hire 120 employees.
BRIO, part of the BRAVO/BRIO Restaurant Group, based in Columbus, Ohio, plans to build an 8,000-square-foot restaurant on a site near the Ethan Allen store.
“At this time we will open with one restaurant in the Jacksonville market and we feel that the Town Center location will be a great fit for us,” said CEO Saed Mohseni in a statement.
“This will be an excellent addition for BRIO, considering that we have many very popular restaurants in Florida already,” he said.
The 120 employees will consist of 60 full-time and 60 part-time employees, said spokewoman Duree Ross with Duree Ross & Co. Inc. in Fort Lauderdale.
BRIO Jacksonville will start taking job applications for hourly staff at the beginning of August at www.workatbrio.com, she said. Management candidates can apply online now.
Development plans show BRIO at The Markets at Town Center. Brio’s website describes it as an upscale affordable restaurant serving authentic northern Italian food in a Tuscan villa atmosphere.
It serves lunch, dinner and brunch and offers catering.
The 45 BRIO restaurants operate in 18 states and the District of Columbia. There are eight in Florida.
The company plans to open five to seven more BRIO restaurants this year, Ross said.
The 47 BRAVO Cucina Italiana restaurants, described as “white-tablecloth casual dining,” operate in 18 states. There are two in Florida, in Naples and Orlando.
All are open seven days a week.
There also is one Bon Vie location in Columbus.
The company, publicly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol BBRG, started in 1992. For information, visit www.bbrg.com.
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