Vernon’s to launch casual chain
Open Door eateries will offer more-affordable local option
The owner of Vernon’s and WisePies has cooked up another restaurant concept, and he’s planning to launch it this summer.
Mike Baird said he and wife Kim expect to open the first locations of Vernon’s Open Door by June and should have at least f ive open around the metro area within about a year.
The casual dining restaurant will serve what Baird calls “modern American cuisine,” but at a considerably lower price point than their Vernon’s Speakeasy, a high-end Los Ranchos eatery previously known as Vernon’s Hidden Valley Steakhouse. No entrée at Vernon’s Open Door will crack $20, Baird said.
“We’ll still have great service, but it won’t be the fine dining,” he said.
The first two Open Doors will open in spots where Baird already has restaurants, replacing his Prime sandwich shops in Los Ranchos and Rio Rancho. (The Prime locations will start introducing some Open Door dishes this month.)
Baird said a Cottonwood Mall area location would follow soon thereafter. He’s in talks for space with a developer who has projects planned for the Coors and Montaño area and at the old Jackalope site in Bernalillo, where Baird said Open Door would be built alongside the Rio Grande.
He’s also looking for metro Albuquerque sites on the east side of the river.
“I would think Albuquerque could easily support 10 (locations),” Baird said. “Pricepoint-wise, you’re talking about a Chili’s. How many Chili’s do we have? How many Applebee’s do we have? I’d rather be that local choice.”
The Vernon’s steakhouse in Los Ranchos first opened in 2007, and the Bairds, who also own the shopping center in which it sits, acquired it in 2009. While Open Door won’t replicate its fine-dining menu or Prohibition-era theme, Baird wanted to capitalize on the established name.
“Being able to associate the Vernon’s brand with a more casual restaurant, I think, is the smart way to go,” he said. “It’s a little bit of a learning curve for me, but it just made more sense as far as brand awareness.”
The Vernon’s Open Door rollout comes as Baird and partner Steven Chavez continue growing their WisePies Pizza & Salad concept at a feverish pace. The chain — which originated last year — already has four Albuquerque stores and franchisees signed on to open stores elsewhere in New Mexico, as well as in Arizona and Nevada.
While WisePies was designed to franchise, Baird said he wouldn’t necessarily go the same route with Open Door.