Wendy’s proposed to take over former Whitehall Bob Evans
WHITEHALL, Ohio ( WCMH ) – A former Whitehall Bob Evans is on track to become a Wendy's location, built using a digital-minded plan.
The shuttered Bob Evans at 3988 E. Broad St. is preparing to take on a new food chain. John Marth, construction manager at Wendy's, applied to the city of Whitehall for a special use permit to equip the restaurant with a drive-in window and other drive-in facilities.
On Sept. 17, City Council opened the proposal to public hearing, and there were no public objections. One week earlier, Marth presented the proposed location at a committee meeting.
Top outdoor dining: Rooftops, patios and year-round spots
The proposed construction plans follow a change made by The Wendy's Company in August, 2022, called Global Next Gen. This new restaurant design style caters to a more digital world, and Wendy's has already begun building them in central Ohio, with construction in process for a Powell location and a New Albany restaurant that opened last December.
According to building plans and Marth's presentation of the proposal at a Sept. 10 committee meeting, the drive-through lane would accommodate up to 12 cars, looping from Broad Street counterclockwise around the building and exiting back on Broad Street. For in-person dining, a parking lot is proposed to sit east of the building. Two accessible parking spaces are proposed directly next to the building.
Near the accessible spaces are three additional spaces allotted for customers picking up mobile orders. In a similarly adaptive divergence from traditional fast food building plans, three additional parking spaces are proposed in front of the building, sitting between East Broad Street and the restaurant. Marth said these three spaces would service delivery drivers, who could use a small delivery pick-up window for easy service.
"The general customer cannot walk up to the window and order out of that window," arth said. "It's a window that's right out of the kitchen, so an Uber Eats driver can walk up and say, 'My order is x, y, z,' and the kitchen can open it up and give it to them and they can drive away."
According to Wendy's Global Next Gen plans, some new restaurants also incorporate artificial intelligence to take orders, a pilot program that has been tested in at least four Columbus locations so far. Marth did not reply to NBC4's requests for comment, and it is unclear if that program would be implemented in this location. However, Marth did confirm at a council meeting that the location will hire workers and at least a handful of new jobs.
Slammies on High closes, replaced by pizza place
The new proposal comes after a different Whitehall Wendy's location shut down this past summer, closing the location at East Main Street and Hamilton Road. A former Whitehall Wendy's at 3747 E. Broad St. also shut down in recent years.
Councilmembers asked what about this location would make it more successful, and while Marth was unable to definitively determine the information about the Broad Street former location, he did confirm the Main Street location was a franchise location.
Marth said the new restaurant would be company-owned and operated, which is relatively uncommon for the corporation. According to Wendy's 2024 Quarter 2 financial report, only around 6.6% of U.S. locations are company-owned.
