Melissa Frisbee, who helps manage Buck's Wild Burgers, is ready to welcome customers to the new restaurant where Acoustic Cafe used to be located.Buck's Wild Burgers is now open in the former Acoustic Cafe spot in Remco Business Center.
"The restaurant is an opportunity for something new and creative," said co-owner Fernando Arellano, who owns the business with his brother, Jorge Arellano. The pair also partners to run Rafael's Restaurant. "We want to have a different type of burger. We are bringing in bison, turkey, pork, venison and garden-patty burgers for vegetarians."
Thinking about other burger places in Chattanooga, Fernando decided he wanted to give customers more than a traditional type of meat. Though he expects the top-sellers to be the build-a-burger and the traditional American style burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup.
No matter what diners choose, prices are reasonable, from $9.99 for the bison burger and a drink to $7.50 for all others, according to Fernando Arellano.
In addition to burgers, customers can sample beer on tap and wine, whether at the restaurant's wraparound bar or seated at a table.
"We will have live music on Fridays and Saturdays," Fernando Arellano said. "We will do karaoke and a trivia night."
He said he is keeping most of the building the same, and the stage area will remain.
"I always had the idea for this in the back of my head, but the opportunity and capital had not come up," he said. "Five months ago I thought hard about it. Mr. Mashburn [who owns the building] told me I could rent the space with everything still inside. Now, wherever you are sitting, you can see a TV. We will have sports and entertainment playing."
About 10 to 15 employees will work at the new restaurant, he said, including Kimberly Bivens, who's helped manage Rafael's, which the brothers have owned for three years.
"Fernando Arellano has such a good rapport with customers," said Rafael's manager Melissa Frisbee, who will help as needed at Buck's Wild Burgers. "So many people have good things to say about Rafael's. Customers are excited to have him open another restaurant. I think it will do well. He has really good customer service and talks to customers instead of staying in the background."
The new restaurant can be found on Facebook by keying in "Bucks Wild Burgers." Located at 61 RBC Drive in Ringgold, the restaurant is closed Sundays, but stays open until midnight Fridays and Saturdays.