Steak and seafood: Ben’s ChopHouse restaurant ready to open

With Ben’s ChopHouse preparing to quietly open its doors Thursday to hungry steak and seafood lovers at the restaurant’s new location on Veterans Parkway, owner Ben Boles acknowledged Wednesday he has very high expectations.

“It’s a fantastic location. I think it’s got to be the best location in town. As far as traffic flow, you can’t beat it,” said the man making the move from a successful 12-year run at 5300 Sidney Simons Blvd. to the eatery’s new home at 6780 Veterans Parkway.

That’s the site of a former Ruby Tuesday chain restaurant that was shuttered last August amid a corporate round of closures. Situated at the corner of Veterans Parkway and Adams Farm Drive at Columbus Park Crossing, the new Ben’s ChopHouse location is prime, with vehicles steadily flowing by it. The intersection sees about 34,000 vehicles a day, according to a Georgia Department of Transportation traffic count.

“I’ve invested quite a bit into it as far as getting the thing ready and the new systems and bringing in the right staff,” Boles said. “But I feel good about it. I really do. The building has turned out very nice. The menu looks great. The staff are very excited about it. I just think it’s going to be good.”

The owner said a private tasting with new menu items is scheduled Wednesday evening, with a soft opening starting at 11 a.m. Thursday, when Ben’s ChopHouse opens for lunch. The plan is to serve customers seven days a week, including a Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“We’re going to have a soft opening for the rest of the week, which will be just a limited amount of seating,” he said. “We’re not going to really advertise it as being open. Of course, I’m letting a few people know so they can come and try it. That’s really just a training session to make sure we get all of our systems ready and in place. We’re going to try to do the grand opening on Monday.”

Boles said as renovation work on the property progressed, people were stopping by each day to check and see if the restaurant was open, which he called “a great sign” of things to come. The eatery will have between 130 and 140 seats, about the same as the old Sidney Simons location.

“We’re still going for that business-casual kind of feel,” he said. “People will come in for their business meetings and be sitting right beside families with their kids. It’s got to really accommodate a wide variety. We’re not trying to do what some of these chains do and just pack them in, you know.”

But make no mistake, Boles understands he is landing in a veritable mecca of restaurants, particularly of the chain variety. Nearby are Cheddar’s, Bonefish Grill, Red Lobster, TGI Friday’s, Chili’s, LongHorn Steakhouse, Smokey Bones, Olive Garden, Carrabba’s and a host of others large and small.

That’s why aside from its bread-and-butter fare of hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, pork chops, burgers, chicken, pasta, salads and side dishes, there will be new menu items and possibly some tweaking of operating hours, particularly on the weekends.

“We’re really going to play with the weekends right now,” Boles said. “I can see the need of possibly staying open all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I’ve noticed that’s what some of the other chains here do. We really just have to play this by ear. It’s a whole new thing for us up here. We want to meet the demand of the customers, but I don’t want to push my staff to where they can’t do it properly, either.”

Visit Ben’s Chophouse online at www.benschophouse.net or on Facebook.

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Steak and seafood: Ben’s ChopHouse restaurant ready to open."