"It's kind of two years in the making," Donovan Ryckis said.
Before long, the new Montezuma will join its sister businesses, two of which are in Chambersburg, Pa., and one in Gettysburg, Pa.
"We're trying to see if we can make it by the first or second week of December," Jesus "Chuy" Munoz said.
The restaurant will encompass 3,500 square feet. Munoz estimated it will employ 14 people and have a seating capacity of 140.
The Waynesboro restaurant will be better designed than the others to accommodate large parties, he said.
Kitchen equipment, a few new walls and carpet need to be installed, Munoz said.
Customer feedback contributed to the decision to open in Waynesboro, Munoz said. Each existing restaurant averages 200 checks a day.
"We have quite a few customers from Waynesboro who go to Chambersburg," Munoz said, saying the response to them for a while has been "we will, we will" open in their community.
The Munoz family, which formerly lived in West Virginia and Virginia, opened the first Montezuma on Wayne Avenue seven years ago, followed by the U.S. 30 restaurant five years ago. The Gettysburg restaurant will celebrate its second anniversary in December.
Chuy Munoz identified quick service, good food and reasonable prices as the reasons for the restaurants' success.
A Mexican restaurant closed in the Ryckises' shopping center shortly before they purchased it. Kevin, Suria and Donovan Ryckis opened a Gold's Gym and renovated the plaza, which now also holds Crosswalk Church, WBO Graphics, Look Solutions, Racewax.com and Buddy Lowans concrete countertops. The plaza also features Beck & Benedict Hardware and its theater that is used for bluegrass music.
The center once served as a bustling outlet mall in the 1980s.
