BEDC brings in new restaurant

BEDC brings in new restaurant News Staff Tue, 04/30/2024 - 4:33 pm   Renovations have started on a new restaurant at the former Bealls building located at 223 W. Walker St. The restaurant will be owned and operated by Neri Gonzalez who owns restaurants in Graham and Jacksboro. The move to Breckenridge was made possible with help from the Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation. Photo/Mike Williams By Mike Williams news@breckenridgeamerican.com Another dining option is on the way to downtown Breckenridge. A popular area chef plans to open her third restaurant, this time in the former Bealls building on Walker Street. The restaurant is expected to open this fall. Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation Executive Director David Miller said the contract has been signed and the keys have been handed over to turn the old Bealls building into a restaurant. Neri Gonzalez, who operates restaurants in Graham and Jacksboro, will be opening a new location at 223 W. Walker St. The expansion into Breckenridge was made possible through a loan from BEDC. “We did sign a deal with Neri Gonzalez, out of Graham. She’s got Neri’s on the Square (in Graham) and Neri’s Firehouse in Jacksboro,” Miller said. “... We gave them a $250,000 small business loan to do the renovation to convert the building into a restaurant.... They’re going to start renovations any day now.” Neri and her husband Johnathan have been in the restaurant business for 14 years, first in Graham and later opening a second location in Jacksboro five years ago. “The opportunity to become a part of this vibrant community fills us with immense gratitude and excitement,” the Gonzalez family wrote in a Facebook post. “And the best part? We are not just opening a new location—we are excited to be expanding our family of restaurants to serve you in not one, not two, but three amazing locations! Each restaurant will continue to offer the same exceptional dining experience and warm hospitality that you’ve come to know and love.” Neri attended The Culinary School of Fort Worth. In a student profile with the school in 2020, she said her mother was her biggest inspiration to be a chef. “My mom is such a hard worker, and I learned everything from her,” she said. “I knew that if she could do it, then I could do it.” She had already had two restaurant businesses before attending school. The desire to go to culinary school was so she could grow as a chef and help her businesses grow. While the Breckenridge Downtown Development Council had conversations in the past with the Gonzalez family opening a restaurant in Breckenridge, Miller said the wheels began to turn on the project in last May. Breckenridge voters approved Proposition 1 in the May 2023 election which legalized the sale of all alcoholic beverages, including mixed beverages, within the city limits of Breckenridge. “The first step was getting the mixed beverages motion passed through last May’s election,” Miller said. “That’s a central part of having a successful restaurant.” Miller added that small towns like Breckenridge have a unique draw to their downtown areas. “It’s a historical, charming feature that you want to have a little more upscale, unique options on your downtowns that contribute to that tourism traffic,” he said. “We have developed more eating establishments on this side of town and even the east side of town with Blackhorse and Old Timer. We needed more variety.” News Log in to post comments