Restaurantes Subs, the local franchise of Subway restaurants, this week reported they will add four more locations by the end of the year, bringing the total number of sandwich shops in Costa Rica to 63.
In September the company will open its 60th restaurant with a location next to the University of Costa Rica’s campus, east of San José.
The new Subway will have a capacity for 70 people and will be open Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m.-10 p.m., catering primarily to customers from the campus. The company currently is evaluating options for weekend hours.
A new restaurant in GuachipelÃn, southwest of the capital, is scheduled to open in October, and two others will open later this year, but the company has not yet announced their locations. These openings will add to three more earlier this year, which follows a strategy to open seven new restaurants in 2014, Subway Costa Rica’s general manager, Isidro Perera, said.
Along with Subway, by the end of September U.S. burger chain Johnny Rockets will add two more restaurants in the country after opening of its first location last December, the company’s first in Central America.
New Johnny Rockets will open at Mall Multiplaza in Curridabat, east of San José, and at the Plaza Universal food court in downtown San José, according to local franchise owner Desarrollos Gastronómicos Internacionales.
The Multiplaza location represents an investment of $800,000, and it will employ 35 people. The Plaza Universal investment totals $300,000 and will employ 15 workers.
The company expects to continue its expansion through 2015 with another restaurant in Escazú, but a location has not yet been selected. The business group also plans to open restaurants in Honduras and El Salvador.
Johnny Rockets has become popular for its “secret recipe” burgers, milk shakes and floats, and its 1950s theme.
