Weaverville – Wondering what’s coming to the area being graded just to the right of Walmart at North Ridge Commons in Weaverville? No more wonder. A new standalone 2,500-square-foot drive-thru restaurant is coming to Weaverville in the form of a Highway 55 restaurant. According to documents obtained by the Tribune, the permit for the new fast-food restaurant was permitted in July of this year.
The restaurant, which was started in 1991 in a mall in North Carolina by Kenney Moore, features burgers, cheesesteaks, frozen custard, chicken platters, shrimp platters, and more. While not the upscaled sit-down restaurant most residents in the area were hoping for in a new eating experience, Highway 55 looks to be a new fast-food option that will provide a departure from the bigger fast-food options locals are used to having.
According to Highway 55’s website, the original restaurant was called “Andy’s Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers at the time, and its beginnings were humble: Kenney cooked every burger by himself from morning ’til night. And this was in full view of his customers. He couldn’t afford a traditional restaurant kitchen.
“But Kenney soon realized something. When you’re manning an open grill, you can greet everyone who walks in. You can chat with guests sitting at the counter. You can cook a family their meals fresh right in front of them, and they can watch the care you put into doing so. And isn’t that what restaurants are supposed to be like? Neighbors bonding together over great service and tasty food?”
There are now 135 “open-grill diners across eight states and two countries, but their missions are the same as Kenney’s when he first opened the doors in 1991: to deliver authentic hospitality and fresh food to anyone who wants a little something more out of their dining experience.”
The website invites potential customers to “watch us grill your fresh, never-frozen burger or hand-squeeze your lemonade right at the counter. You’ll see why we’re your neighborhood’s next favorite burger joint.”
Currently, the closest Highway 55 is located at 2845 Sugar Hill Road in Marion, NC. The Tribune has reached out to the company about when the restaurant might be opening and other information, but as of press time, the newspaper had not heard back from them.