Although signs and a black cargo truck with its logo now rest along Concord Pike, Mission BBQ does not have an opening date for its Talleyville store.
The company posted on Facebook that it planned to open the restaurant on July 25. When asked to confirm those plans, Mission BBQ spokesperson Linda Dotterer said that date was no longer correct and she was “unable to confirm a new date.”
The next day Dotterer sent an email announcing Aug. 1 as the opening date and several grand-opening activities. They included a military appreciation night scheduled for July 28 with sales donated to a military foundation and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with a live rendition of the national anthem.
Two days later, Dotterer sent another email saying Aug. 1 was an incorrect date.
“I hesitate to share a new date at this time but am happy to do so when we get closer to the opening,” Dotterer wrote.
She did not reply to multiple calls or emailed questions regarding the reasons for the delays.
The restaurant is in the Concord Gallery shopping center on Concord Pike in Talleyville. The location will be the first Mission BBQ in New Castle County and the second in Delaware, joining a location on Route 13 in Dover.
The barbecue restaurant chain serves oak-smoked brisket, pulled pork, sausage, turkey and pulled chicken as entrees or sandwiches. It also offers St. Louis-style spare ribs; baby back ribs; and a variety of sides, including green beans, fries and baked beans.
The restaurants pay homage to American military personnel, police officers, firefighters and first responders. Badges, equipment and other memorabilia related to local units are featured in each restaurant.
Concord Gallery is just south of Mt. Lebanon Road and across from Giant Brandywine Bikes and an AT&T store on Concord Pike. The shopping center is anchored by Staples and Five Below.
It is currently undergoing a facelift with parts of the brown brick facade getting a coat of gray paint. White support structures have been installed on the roof of the shopping center to raise the signs of each store.
A dispute between the shopping center’s owner, Allied Retail Properties, and neighborhood groups over proposed changes at the shopping center held up the addition of Mission BBQ earlier this year. The changes Allied sought, which required a deed restriction amendment, were ultimately not approved. The exterior renovations ongoing now are not subject to the property’s deed restrictions, Jim Oeste, vice president of real estate for Allied, said this spring.
Mission BBQ is taking about half the space previously occupied by Pier 1 Imports at the front right corner of the shopping center. First Watch, the Florida-based brunch chain, will be to the inside of Mission BBQ.
First Watch spokesperson Hunter Carpenter previously said the company plans to open on Concord Pike in “late summer.” Construction of the Mission BBQ appears further along than the First Watch.
First Watch is also planning to open a location in The Grove at Newark, the former College Square shopping center off Library Avenue. It will eventually have four sites in New Castle County given existing locations on Geoffrey Drive in Stanton and in Barley Mill in Greenville.
Concord Gallery is also adding The Peach Cobbler Factory, a Nashville-based dessert shop specializing in cobbler, banana pudding and cinnamon rolls. It will be to the left of Playa Bowls where GameStop used to be.
The shopping center has a few remaining vacancies, including the corner opposite First Watch and Mission BBQ that was formerly Bertucci’s.
Mission BBQ Kirkwood Highway location
Dotterer previously told Delaware Online/The News Journal that Mission BBQ signed a lease for Kirkwood Plaza, the shopping center with Acme and Kohl’s on Kirkwood Highway in Milltown.
According to a plan approved by New Castle County in April, shopping center owner Oekos Management will demolish the standalone Citizens Bank along Kirkwood Highway and construct buildings for Mission BBQ and a fast-food tenant in its place.
The two-story building east of the site home to Verizon and GameStop is being renovated, but the Citizens remains. Dotterer did not respond to a request for comment regarding updates on the Kirkwood Highway site.
The Concord Pike location will be the 11-year-old Maryland chain’s 129th restaurant. The company plans to end the year with more than 135 locations throughout the eastern half of the U.S.
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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.
