A Valley BBQ joint will be opening its second full-service location this year.
Mesa’s Waldo’s BBQ will open a new location in Gilbert, slated for September 6.
The 5,151-square-foot eatery will open on the northwest corner of Williamsfield Drive and Val Vista Road in Gilbert.
The BBQ restaurant has been operating at 4500 E. Main St. in Mesa since 1993. It has two other express locations in Phoenix.
Scott Ellsworth of SRS Real Estate Partners represented Waldo’s BBQ and Kalen Richard of Strategic Retail Group represented the landlord.
“We are excited to bring Waldo’s BBQ’s fun personality and quality menu to Gilbert. There was a lot of competition from local operators to national concepts for this site. Ultimately we were chosen after hosting a sit-down meeting at Waldo’s Mesa location between both tenant and landlord. This is a perfect example of how you can’t beat a quality face-to-face meeting over the dinner table (or lunch, in this case) versus relying solely on emails or conference calls to cultivate monumental and long-term business relationships,” said Ellsworth.