Jason’s Deli plans to open a new restaurant in Temple early next year, a company spokesman confirmed Monday.
The Beaumont-based sandwich chain is looking at the Market Place Shopping Center area near South 31st Street and SW HK Dodgen Loop. A lease has not yet been signed.
In late September, Market Place will be home to a new Kohl’s store in the space formerly occupied by Montgomery Ward.
“Yes, we are coming,” Jason’s spokesman Daniel Helfman said by e-mail. “The deli will open in January 2012.”
About 50 new jobs will be created by the venture.
Jason’s Deli is known for its soups, sandwiches and baked potatoes. The eatery uses organic produce, whole-grain bread and nitrate-free meats. It recently banned high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors from all its food.
In February, Jason’s asked residents to call or e-mail if they would like a location in Temple. At the time, Helfman said the company was considering renting billboards advertising their interest in expansion here.
The addition of a Jason’s Deli would bring another top-rated eatery to Temple. Jason’s was named best family restaurant by Parents Magazine in March. It was chosen top sandwich and sub shop chain from a survey of more than 36,000 Americans in the upcoming issue of Consumer Reports.
Other Temple restaurants that are among Consumer Reports’ highest rated fast food chains are Chick Fil-A, Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza and Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Jason’s nearest location is in Killeen on U.S. 190.
The family-owned company has 126 corporate-run restaurants in 28 states.
The Killeen restaurant and the proposed Temple eatery both will be corporate-owned.
About Temple:
Temple, Texas is a community with a diverse economic base that includes healthcare, distribution and warehousing, and manufacturing as the foundation. Within 180 miles of a population of 17.8 million, Temple is in a strategic location that is central within the southwest U.S. marketplace.