Demo it your way: South Bend Burger King torn down to make way for new one on west side

SOUTH BEND ― Demolition of the Burger King restaurant at 4852 W. Western Ave. got underway Tuesday, July 30 and might be completed before the end of the week.

The restaurant is being removed to make way for a new Burger King, which should be completed in just a few months, said Kelli Kuczmanski, director of marketing for Mishawaka-based Quality Dining.

"The bones in a building get old, " Kuczmanski said. “In this case, instead of a renovation, we decided to do something more significant. We are building a brand-new restaurant because South Bend ― specifically the west side ― has been very good to us through the years. Our guests deserve this and so does our team.”

The restaurant, which opened in September 1989, was among the first new restaurants built in Indiana by Quality Dining. “It’s a significant investment in a portion of the city that just so happens to represent our early roots,” Kuczmanski said.

The location closed at the end of business on Sunday, and the estimated 35 employees were offered work at other area Burger Kings while the old restaurant is being replaced.

“Everything about it is going to be new ― from the furniture to the kitchen equipment,” she said.

It’s also going to have a double drive-thru lane for speedier service.

The west side of the city has been on a run lately with the opening of the nearby Indiana Dinosaur Museum and construction of an EV battery plant by General Motors and Samsung SDI as well as the massive project planned by Amazon Web Services, all between South Bend and New Carlisle.

Quality Dining operates 37 Burger King restaurants in Indiana and Michigan and more than 100 in Florida. Locally, it also owns Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen in Mishawaka, St. Joseph and Warsaw as well as Uptown Kitchen in Heritage Square in Mishawaka.

The locally-based company was founded in 1982.

Email Tribune Market Basket columnist Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com with tips about retail and restaurant openings and closings.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New Burger King signals growing investment in west side of South Bend