Monday, November 6, 2006

Austin Grill, the Tex-Mex chain born in Glover Park, turns 18 this year. And it's going to college.

A deal announced last week put the restaurants under the ownership of Thompson Hospitality, a Herndon company that contracts for food services at corporate offices and several regional colleges including the Northern Virginia Community College system, Virginia State University and Delaware State University. Terms were not disclosed.

So those barbecued wings and quesadillas once served to the first President Bush (he never had to wait for a table) will soon be offered to hungry undergraduates cruising their campus food courts.

"Austin Grill will represent a new brand that will be plugged into those food courts and will probably do better than others," said Warren M. Thompson, president of Thompson Hospitality. "By offering Pizza Hut, we're not offering anything that's unique. Austin Grill -- it's a brand that has a recognizable product."

The company says the first step will be to create an "express" Austin Grill. Managers will take about a year to winnow the A.G. menu -- the wings and quesadillas are a must, they say -- into something that can work in airports, malls and college campuses.

Thompson Hospitality also plans a more aggressive expansion for the chain, which also has locations in Bethesda, Baltimore, Silver Spring, Springfield and Old Town Alexandria, with another to be opened in the new Rockville Town Center in mid-2007. Then the chain will start looking at places in Annapolis and somewhere in Loudoun County, Thompson says. Thereafter, Thompson plans to open three to five stores a year.

Most will be in the mid-Atlantic, but for the first time Austin Grill will also start franchising its signature salsa into such untapped markets as Detroit, Atlanta or Chicago. It's not the first time Austin Grill has looked to expand. Four years ago the restaurant group was eyeing the holding company of another Tex-Mex chain, Chi Chi's.

Despite transition, Austin Grill president Chris Patterson says the aura will remain. "We will always try to keep the local feel to our restaurants," Patterson said. "It'll be the same quality of food, just served in a slightly different manner."

-- Chris Kirkham