Jun. 8—Burger and milkshake lovers in Waynesville will soon have another option to satisfy their taste buds.
Construction on a Cook Out fast-food restaurant at 1870 South Main Street next door to Bojangles is well under way. Waynesville Senior Code Enforcement Official David Kelley expects that the smell of cooking hamburgers will soon be wafting through the air. Kelley, however, does not know an exact opening date.
An e-mail sent to the Cook Out corporate office by The Mountaineer seeking information on the project was not answered.
"A project like that doesn't take that long," Kelley said.
Building plans submitted with the town peg construction costs at just over $1.7 million. Property transactions show the 0.8-acre property sold for $940,000 last December to an LLC with the name Cook Out-Waynesville, Inc.
Those same documents show that Cook Out Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Reaves as the owner of the Waynesville location. Cook Out was founded in 1989 in Greensboro by Reaves' father, Morris Reaves.
A building on the parcel that previously housed the nonprofit 30th Judicial Alliance was razed before construction started.
In addition to hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and a wide variety of milkshakes, Cook Out also serves North Carolina-Style barbeque. Like most all Cook Outs, the Waynesville location will only offer drive-thru service in its 1,881-square foot location.
"There is no indoor seating," Kelley said. "The back end of the building is all coolers and freezers."
The Cook Out will have a two-lane drive-through looping around the building — with both an entrance and exit off South Main Street, according to plans submitted to Kelley in March. Like Bojangles next door, the entrance and exit will only allow right turns both in and out, minimizing traffic backups by drivers trying to turn left across lanes of oncoming traffic.
The chain has over 140 locations in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia and Louisiana.
A job posting on the employment website Indeed states that Cook Out is currently seeking a general manager for its Waynesville location with annual pay between $75,000 and $100,000.