T-Bones & CJs to laconia

Tom Boucher of T-B Four, Inc. of Bedford, a regional restaurant group, confirmed yesterday that the firm has acquired 1182 Union Avenue, since 1981 the home of Bonanza Family Restaurant and Jeremiah's Lounge, where it will open T-Bones Great American Eatery and CJ's Great West Grill in the spring.

T-B Four, which Boucher founded in 1984, operates T-Bones restaurants in Bedford, Salem, Hudson and Derry as well as CJ's Great West Grill in Manchester. Boucher said that the Laconia location will mark the first time the company has operated both its restaurants under one and the same roof. "We're very excited at the prospect of our first dual concept offering," he said.

Boucher said that he had toyed with the idea of moving northward for some time. Finding the Concord market "pretty crowded," he said that he looked to the Lakes Region, which he was becoming more of a place to live year round. The Union Avenue location, he said, was on a heavily traveled route on the way to Lake Winnipesaukee and close to the new shopping plaza in Gilford with a view across Paugus Bay.

The building consists of 12,000 square feet equally divided between two levels and sits on 1.35 acres with parking for 101 vehicles. Boucher said the interior will undergo a complete facelift, with T-Bones on the upper level and CJ's down below.

Boucher said he expects to hire between 120 and 140 people, from managers to servers. Both restaurants will open for lunch at 11:30 a.m. and close with last call at 12:30 p.m. seven days a week.

Both restaurants offer varied menus, featuring steak and seafood complemented at T-Bones with Italian and Far Eastern specialties and at CJ's with southwestern dishes. Boucher described T-Bones as the more "conservative" of the two restaurants, with a comfortable ambience welcoming to families while the more "vibrant and casual" CJ's catered to younger patrons. Although both restaurants will have full service bars, Boucher said that neither will offer entertainment. "We take the bar business as it comes," he said, "but we feature the restaurant without being a lounge with snacks."

Boucher did not disclose the terms of the transaction, but the property was last assessed at a value of $1,342,000, of which the building represented $1,070,000 and the land $268,700.