Taco Bell is back in business
Nearly a year after the fire that closed the restaurant, the Taco Bell on Ga. 53 opens its doors once again.
ADraut@CalhounTimes.com
Around lunchtime any day of the week, many drivers find the Calhoun Chick-fil-A drive-thru packed and lining cars up out on Ga. 53. Yet as of earlier this month, the Chick-fil-A isn’t the only restaurant in that intersection to draw a large lunch crowd.
For the past year, the lot at 481 Ga. 53 East has consisted of an old Taco Bell building that was damaged by a July fire. And though in December the City of Calhoun’s building official didn’t foresee the franchise reopening The Taco Bell on Ga. 53 is back in business. any time soon, the drive-thru of In November, Calhoun Building the nation-wide chain is once Official Don McGinnis approved again drawing customers to buy a construction permit its food since it opened earlier for the first contractor but still this month. said that the team of builders
In early July of 2018, Calhoun was making little headway, especially firefighters were called out to the after they discovered Taco Bell when a fire broke out. water damage and other unexpected And though the fire was put out, problems with the building’s the damage was enough to close foundation. the building and force owners to make decisions on how to proceed.
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In May, McGinnis said a new contractor took over the project and sped the progress along. Mohamad El-Fassih, a contractor with Michiganbased Acme Enterprises, took over the project this spring as an approved contractor with Taco Bell Corporate, predicting in early April that the project would be completed by the end of May.
El-Fassih said he didn’t know what happened with the first contractor who was hired to finish the project but that Taco Bell Corporate
asked him to step in and finish construction since he’s worked on many projects for the company prior to this one.
Once taking over construction, El-Fassih said his workers almost had to start from scratch, as the only redeemable qualities of the building were the base foundation and the roof structure.
Despite earlier predictions, El-Fassih said his team finished construction completely on June 10, extending finalization beyond their goal by only a few days.
“Everything went so smoothly,” El-Fassih said. “The city was very helpful and pleasant to work with.”
El-Fassih said the only reason for the delay in opening the building was due to training new staff, getting everything inside the building organized and making sure the drive-thru system and store equipment was up to date.
Since the restaurant opened this month, El-Fassih has communicated with Taco Bell Corporate and was relayed a message that the newly renovated business is doing well.
“They are very busy right now and the customers are very happy that Taco Bell is back in business,” El-Fassih said. “The inside has a new design, so instead of the kitch
en being in the back where it usually is, the processional line is in the front of the store so customers can see their food being prepared. Customers like the building and how it looks, I’ve been told.”
Since the Taco Bell closed after the July fire, a competitor has opened right across the highway — Del Taco, which opened in December. Since Del Taco sells the same style food, Taco Bell might have a bit of friendly rivalry from the restaurant across the street — yet, given their current lunch crowds, Taco Bell’s re-opening has been proven to be successful so far.