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Posted on Tue, Jan 26, 2010 : 6 a.m.

It's official: Red Robin will open 2nd Ann Arbor area restaurant in ex-Bennigan's

By Paula Gardner

Red Robin will open the chain’s second restaurant in the Ann Arbor area by mid-May, chain officials confirmed.

First, though, they’ll spend months outfitting the location: The former Bennigan’s on South State Street.

“We’re doing a complete remodel,” said Robert Monti, regional operations director.

Red Robin operates a restaurant on Carpenter Road, which Monti said will remain open.

Adding the second location in the area will broaden the chain’s reach to students, business customers in the State Street office district and west Ann Arbor.

“It gives us an opportunity to get into a different segment of the market without abandoning who we are,” Monti said. “A family restaurant.”

Bennigan’s had been in the 7,000-square-foot building for 28 years but it closed Jan. 16. The Mt. Pleasant-based management company that owned it for the past 10 years chose to close instead of signing a new lease with property owner Simon Property Group at a much higher rate, officials told AnnArbor.com for a previous story.

The restaurant’s previous lease was nullified after the Bennigan’s parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

However, Bennigan’s officials said the location was highly profitable and described is as one of the best restaurant locations in Ann Arbor.

That’s how Red Robin views the opportunity to move in, Monti said.

The restaurant is on the larger end of Red Robin which offer both family dining and a sports bar.

The chain also more often builds new facilities instead of renovating existing space.

The Colorado-based chain operates over 400 restaurants in the U.S. and employs over 30,000, according to its Web site. It will hire about 150 for positions at the new Ann Arbor location, which will be the 20th in Michigan.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity,” Monti said. “We think it’s going to be a great location.”

For more information on Bennigan's or Red Robin, visit AnnArbor.com's restaurant guide.