Carls Jr. opens to warm reception at Olympic Village

Carls Jr. store manager Jay Richards stands in front of the restaurant, which opened Jan. 31 in the Olympic Village shopping center in Gig Harbor.

JON MANLEY/GATEWAY PHOTO

Carls Jr., a restaurant franchise in the Olympic Village shopping center, opened for business on Jan. 31. Its owned by Jim and Susan Richards, whose oldest son, Jay, is the general manager.

Jay Richards said business is booming.

Business is great, he said. Were very busy.

The restaurant has a unique layout with seating on two stories. On a clear day, customers get a nice view of Mount Rainier.

We had a really narrow building, so, in order to get the seating that we wanted, we decided to go up to a second floor, Jay Richards said. That got us a bit higher so that we could have the view of the mountain, and we just wanted to create a unique space up here, something that was different than what people had seen before. I think weve done that.

Richards said he used the upstairs seating area as his office while the restaurant was under construction.

I just didnt want to leave it, he said.

Richards added the only complaint customers have had about the upstairs seating area is that its too small.

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Carls Jr. opens to warm reception at Olympic Village