Just as New Year's resolutions to slim down kick in, 2012 will bring several new food options to Signal Mountain.
The former Taco Bell building has been leased to the owners of Rafael's, an Italian and pizza chain with locations in Hixson, Winchester, Jasper and Trenton. The first location, built in Collegedale in the early 1990s, recently burned but is being rebuilt.
"We're trying to find small communities instead of going to the big city," said Juan Beltran, manager of the Hixson location. "We like small communities."
The Signal Mountain location should be open by the end of January, he said. It will follow the same format and menu as the others.
"We have so many varieties, plus we've got two-for-one on pizza, which makes people come to try it and see what it's like - 99.9 percent of the time they come back," Beltran said.
The new restaurant in an old restaurant's location has already been approved for its sewer connection through the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority, according to chief engineer Mark Harrison.
Minor renovations to the interior of the building are ongoing, according to Town Manager Honna Rogers.
The building is being leased on a three-year contract, with the option to extend it at that point to take over the remainder of the total five-year lease under which Taco Bell was contracted.
Filling up
Rafael's isn't the only new restaurant biting off a bigger piece of the market with a Signal Mountain location.
"There are some others in the works that I can't say anything about, maybe something down by J&S Shoes," Rogers said.
There are unconfirmed reports that Subway will set up shop in the Ashley Plaza space which formerly housed Dr. Terry Loher's Signal Mountain Chiropractic Clinic. Harrison said there have been no related requests for a sewer connection study yet.
That is the required first step in the overall process.
"They will need to present information regarding their water use versus the chiropractor's water use and [the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation] will have to make the assessment whether it can go through or not," Harrison said.
All the spaces in Ashley Plaza, which recently saw the addition of Pie Slingers pizza and J. Smith Salon, are now the property of Triple Eight Group LLC, which could not be reached for comment.
Former owner Tom Poteet sold the strip center earlier this year.