Wings Etc. Opening In Front Of Mall

LA PORTE — Wings Etc., a franchised restaurant headquartered in Fort Wayne, will open a restaurant on an undeveloped parcel of land on the south side of Ind. 2 West just west of Walgreen’s sometime in May or June.

The 4,500-square-foot family restaurant with bar will seat up to 200 people and employ 40. Developers Chris Endres and Pete Paddeo, of South Bend, who own four Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits restaurants in Indiana, said they’ll break ground on the facility in either early March or April.

La Porte will be their first Wings Etc. site before opening additional ones farther west.

“We chose La Porte because we think La Porte needs more options. Many people in La Porte go to Michigan City to eat dinner,” Endres said. Other franchised restaurants, he said, have overlooked La Porte as a place to open an eatery.

“We think (others) made a mistake by not coming to La Porte. We are excited about La Porte and we think we’ll have a real good reception.”

Local real estate agent Jay Pouzar told The LaPorte County Herald-Argus that more development will occur west of Walgreen’s later this year.

In addition to chicken wings, Wings Etc. will feature ribs, grilled chicken, sandwiches and salads. On average, a dinner will cost between $6 and $12, Endres said. He and Paddeo have plans to open Wings Etc. restaurants in Valparaiso in 2008 and Portage in 2009, along with Crown Point, Hammond and Merrillville down the road.