Tahoe eatery expands to Reno

Two years after they opened the company’s first location at South Lake Tahoe, the owners of Lucky Beaver Bar and Burger are preparing to make their first cautious steps into creating a larger chain.

The company is targeting a July 1 opening for a restaurant at 3655 S. Virginia St. — a location previously occupied by Foley’s Irish Pub.

Bruce Gorton, director of operations, said the company is completing a total renovation of the 3,500-square-foot facility across South Virginia Street from Atlantis.

A key feature of the restaurant, he said, will be a spinning grill in the window, where customers and passers-by will watch the cooking of burgers, steaks and other beef products supplied by Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, the famed New Jersey meat wholesaler.

Lucky Beaver Bar and Burger was launched in mid-2012 along Highway 50 between Harvey’s and MontBlue Resort in South Lake Tahoe by Pat Farrah, who made his name in business as co-founder of Home Depot, and Mike Leeper, a veteran Lake Tahoe restaurateur.

Gorton said executives of the restaurant decided to make their next step into Reno because it’s close enough to Lake Tahoe to allow them to keep a close eye on the new operation. The company hopes to open several additional locations in northern Nevada.

The South Virginia street location is particularly attractive, Gorton said, because of high traffic counts as well as its proximity to the Peppermill, Atlantis and Reno-Sparks Convention Center.

The restaurant will employ about 50. A job fair is scheduled at the Reno location May 21-23.