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Get ready to get your sweet tooth on, Utah, and prepare for yet another popular brand of java while you're at it.
Sizzling Platter, which plans to open Dunkin' Donuts restaurants along the Wasatch Front and points north in the next five years, has announced locations for seven more stores and revealed that it eventually will operate 23 sites, up from 16.
The new locations are in addition to its first Dunkin' Donuts in Utah, which was announced earlier this year and is set to open June 25 at 217 E. 400 South in Salt Lake City.
Murray-based Sizzling Platter said leases have been signed for stores in Salt Lake County, Bountiful and Ogden. Some will open by the end of the year, the others in 2014, said Gary Shatswell, vice president of marketing for Sizzling Platter LLC, a restaurant-management company.
"We're excited," said Shatswell. "Dunkin' Donuts is a strong brand."
When Ed Seith of Tooele read about Dunkin' Donuts opening in Utah, he gave a little sigh. He was a regular customer when he lived in New York and Arizona, and now he'll be moving to Tucson in July — just after the first Salt Lake City location opens.
"It's the coffee that's so great," said Seith, 42, who will be reunited with the restaurants in Tucson. "I get it shipped to my home, but there's something nice about walking into a store and having it brewed in professional machines. I've always enjoyed that experience."
All Dunkin' Donuts locations will have indoor and patio seating, and drive-through windows. The menus will include breakfast items, coffee, doughnuts and sandwiches, which will be served into the evening. Hours of operation, which have not been set, will vary slightly, depending on the location.
Along with the sites that have been announced, Sizzling Platter also is in negotiations for additional stores in the state, said Mitch Lowe, the company's general council and vice president of development. The original agreement included 16 restaurants in Utah, but negotiations have increased the number of stores to 23, said Lowe.
Last year, Sizzling Platter LLC signed a multi-unit agreement with Dunkin' Donuts to develop restaurants in Denver; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, N.M., over the next several years. An El Paso restaurant opened in July 2012.
Dunkin' Donuts, founded in 1950, has more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries worldwide. By comparison, fast-food behemoths McDonald's and Subway each has more than 30,000 outlets. Until Dunkin' Donuts' recent westward march, most locations in the U.S. were in the Midwest and farther east.
Sizzling Platter opened its first restaurant, Sizzler Family Steakhouse, in Salt Lake City in 1963. The company has since expanded to include restaurants in Idaho, Nevada and Washington under different brands. In 1993, the firm also created Ruby River Steakhouse and began operating the Wasatch Front Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurants. January 2013, it sold its interest in Ruby River. In addition, Hoppers Grill & Brew Pub opened its doors in Midvale in 1996. And in 2007 Sizzling Platter opened Little Caesars locations, which have grown to operations in other parts of the state — including a Heber location that opened in May — as well as Colorado, Washington, Texas and New Mexico.
twitter@DawnHouseTrib Utah's Sizzling Platter restaurant group
Founded » 1963 with opening of Sizzler Family Steakhouse in Salt Lake City
Corporate » Privately held, based in Murray
Eateries » Owns and manages more than 180 restaurants in seven states under the Sizzler, Red Robin, Hoppers Grill & Brew Pub and Little Caesars brands
Newest additions » To open 23 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in Utah by 2018, with others planned in Denver; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, N.M., over the next several years.