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A restaurant chain that features a sports bar, bowling lanes and an arcade is coming to Ontario.
Big Al’s expects to open in the former Best Buy at 4120 E. Fourth St. during the first quarter of next year, said Todd Moore, chief operating officer for the Vancouver, Wash.-based company.
The restaurant, which will include two dozen bowling lanes and an area for pool and darts, will be the company’s first in California and its fourth overall. The chain, which was founded 10 years ago, already has establishments in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, Moore said.
“We were looking to expand, and we wanted to get into Southern California,” Moore said. “We found out that there wasn’t a lot of family-oriented entertainment in that market, so it seemed like a good place to start.”
Company officials began lease negotiations on the property last December.
IDS Real Estate Group, which manages more than four million square feet of commercial real estate in the western United States, represented Big Al’s in the lease negotiations. The landlord, a private investment group, was represented by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank in Newport Beach.
Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
The property, which is near Citizens Business Bank Arena, is part of Piemonte @ Ontario Center. It’s in a shopping center occupied by several national and regional tenants, including Target, PetSmart, DSW and Wells Fargo Bank.
Company officials expect to add some square footage to the building, which covers 45,657 square feet, to accommodate the restaurant. It will usually employ around 125 people, but during peak periods – football season, for example – that number will rise to about 175 employees, Moore said
Big Al’s is similar in concept to Dave & Buster’s, which has operated a restaurant at Ontario Mills since that regional facility opened in 1996.
“We’re very unique,” Moore said. “The restaurant industry has no idea how to identify us, because we’re the only chain that does what we do.”
Company officials hope to open a Big Al’s every two years. For now, no other Inland Empire sites are being considered, Moore said.
