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Celebrity owned burger chain Wahlburgers is has big Midwest expansion plans. DBusiness first-reports that the company is aiming to open six locations in Michigan and another six in Ohio over the next five years.
Actor Mark Wahlberg let the news slip about a forthcoming Detroit location in December. Then last week, Bella Piatti owner Nino Cutraro revealed that he was partnering with Wahlburgers in a Detroit News society column. "Mark and I got to know one another when he was in town filming, Transformers: Age of Extinction (Transformers 4) in the summer of 2013," Cutraro tells DBusiness. "We stayed in touch with one another, so when the opportunity arose to do a partnership, we came together on a deal for Michigan and Ohio."
The Greektown restaurant is headed to a 4,200-square foot, two-story building between Monroe Steak House and Redsmoke Barbecue, Cutraro reveals. Plans call for a bar on each floor and seats for up to 130 patrons. Designs will be in the same vein as other Wahlburgers restaurants throughout the country, with a silver, white, and green color scheme, lots of TVs, and stained wood.
Mark Wahlberg founded the chain with brothers Donnie and Paul Wahlberg and the family stars in an A&E show called Wahlburgers. The chain, which recently opened restaurants in Toronto, Boston proper, and Coney Island, New York, announced plans in December to add between 100 and 150 locations to its burger empire. The Greektown restaurant is expected to debut in June.
