Taco Del Mar fills conference center

Taco Del Mar appears to be the latest and final piece of the puzzle in the city’s quest to fill the Kitsap Conference Center.

The restaurant applied for a building permit on Tuesday and is expected to begin construction once the permit is approved in mid-January. It is expected to open on or near March 1, 2005.

“I think we provide a fun factor since we’re going in with surfboards and stuff like that,” said Jeff Rose, president of Sound City Foods in Bremerton. “We provide quality food in a relaxed atmosphere.”

Customers will be able to enjoy the same fun, relaxed atmosphere found at any other Taco Del Mar franchise, he said.

Even though there are two other Mexican food restaurants close to the conference center, Rose said Taco Del Mar targets a specific market that the others do not.

Sound City Foods owns two other Taco Del Mar franchises in Kitsap County and owns all of the Burger King franchises as well, including the one on Warren Avenue.

“We wanted to build in a high profile location to increase our awareness,” Rose said. “We own a restaurant in that area, so we know what the area needs.”

The group had been studying the conference location since April, when it purchased the two other franchises in the county, he said.

“We’re in the final stages of negotiations on the lease,” he said. “It should only take six weeks to make the tenant improvements once we get started.”

Taco Del Mar will join Subway, Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, Puget Sound Box and Shipping and Anthony’s Homeport Restaurant as the major franchises located in the conference center.

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