JANESVILLE — Janesville's south side is getting a dose of chicken restaurant love.
Buffalo Wild Wings Go — a streamlined, to-go version of the chicken wing-centric chain Buffalo Wild Wings — appears poised to open at a strip mall property at 1905 Center Ave.
Hamza Properties, a property owner listed on city of Janesville tax rolls, and on chamber of commerce listings, did not immediately respond to phone calls and text messages from The 69 on details.
A reporter observed a kitchen and service counter in the storefront that appears to be set up and in place, alongside dine-in chairs and tables.
Employment listings for the new Buffalo Wild Wings Go indicate the operator is now hiring kitchen workers.
At Master Cuts, a barber shop two storefronts north of the new Buffalo Wild Wings Go, a barber named Ahmad told The 69 he's told the new restaurant will open "in a couple weeks."
"They pretty much have the restaurant's kitchen ready, they're pretty much ready to go," he said.
Hamza properties shows up in a business listing by chamber of commerce Forward Janesville as a property owner "dedicated to investing in developing the south side of Janesville."
Hamza owns several other commercial properties along Center Avenue's retail corridor.
The Go restaurant opens in space that had once housed an Asian grocery.
Buffalo Wild Wings sets up its locations with smaller menus then the chain's full restaurant counterpart, and more limited seating. The Go locations are geared for carry-out, with a kitchen setup that's designed to quickly process to-go orders funneled in via a mobile app.
Buffalo Wild Wings says in marketing that its Buffalo Wild Wings Go locations are set up to have orders up and ready for pickup in as little as 4 to 6 minutes.
Buffalo Wild Wings says it opened about 79 Go locations last year, with plans to open about 75 more this year. The next closest local Go location outside Janesville, according to the company's marketing, is in Belvidere, Illinois.
Buffalo Wild Wings is owned by parent company Inspire, which also operates Baskin Robbin's and Dunkin', which have a store on the north end of the Center Avenue strip mall that houses the future Go.