Southern Burger Co. owner Christian Siler isn't a stranger to Ooltewah.
The small business owner who opened one of the first Chattanooga food trucks and expanded into a Warehouse Row location earlier this year graduated from Ooltewah High School in 2003 and is on his way back to the community.
He plans to open a location of his Southern Burger Co. restaurant this winter in the Cambridge Square development that's currently under construction at the corner of Old Lee Highway and Ooltewah-Georgetown Road.
"It's nice to feel a little bit like I'm going home," said Siler of the new location. "A lot of our loyal customers work downtown and live in the suburbs. We've got a strong following in the area and we're excited about expanding into a new market."
The 2,500-square-foot restaurant will be open for both lunch and dinner and will serve wine and beer. According to Siler, the new location will likely provide some additional menu items besides the staples that have made his brand popular, along with ample seating indoors and out.
"We'll still have the same burgers, fries and onion rings people love, but we'll also probably have a larger burger possibility and a more done-up option," he said. "[The restaurant] is going to be a great mixed used of interior and exterior space. We really want it to be the kind of place you could take somebody on a date on a Friday night."
Siler said he was sold on expanding with the Cambridge Square development as soon as he saw the plans for the first phase of construction that is slated for completion early in 2013.
"This group of people with the Lupton Company and Barrier Properties are going to do it top notch," he said. "It's going to be somewhere exceptional."
Jim Cheney, a spokesperson for Cambridge Square, said the town square component of the development is the first thing that will be completed. It will be a common green space reminiscent of a traditional courthouse square often found in small towns and will be shared by the buildings within the development.
"We anticipate the square being completed at the end of this summer, construction to start soon thereafter, with the first building completed in time for Southern Burger and Lupi's to move in the first part of next year," said Cheney. "In terms of the whole build-out, that will largely depend on how quickly we fill up the space; I really can't say for sure. We are hoping to move as quickly as possible, and the prospect list is currently very strong."
For more information about Cambridge Square visit www.cambridgesquaretn.com.