No longer will Miami fans of Sweet Tomatoes have to drive all the way to Broward, nor will Red Robin fans, because the salad buffet and gourmet burger outlets are both making their way to town.
The new Sweet Tomatoes restaurant will be built in the Palms at Town & Country shopping center located near Kendall Drive and Florida's Turnpike at 8268 Mills Dr. Construction is slated to begin in mid-April and completed in October this year.
Sweet Tomatoes already has two locations in Hollywood, but the new place in Miami will be a bit smaller, says Tracy Marks, media contact for Soup Plantation, the San Diego-based parent company.
Instead of their standard capacity of 220 to 270 people, the new restaurant will seat about 150. "With the smaller units, we can build them faster," Marks says. "All of our food will be exactly the same."
Once construction nears completion, Sweet Tomatoes plans to hire about 75 employees and gradually increase hiring as the store draws more volume.
Guests will notice a slight style change as they are trying out a new "contemporary farmers' market" look, Marks says.
Sweet Tomatoes specializes in fresh homestyle soups, salads, pastas, and bakery items such as muffins, breads, and pizzas, which are all baked fresh on the premises.
Seven miles to the southeast, construction for a Red Robin is nearly done, and the restaurant has already begun hiring 100 employees for its opening in early April. Applicants can apply in person or online.
Red Robin, a Colorado-based gourmet burger chain, is opening its first of two South Florida restaurants at the Falls shopping plaza at 9050 SW 136th St.. The second location is planned for Pembroke Pines, and two more restaurants are slated to open in the Tampa area later this year, says Red Robin spokesperson Jamie Winter.
They'll serve burgers, fries, and other entrées, and the Miami locations will also offer Caribbean-style alcoholic drinks such as the Electric Watermelon -- made with vodka, rum, Triple Sec, and Midori -- and the Screaming Red Zombie, made with two types of rums.
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