Sam Fox sets opening date for Gilbert Culinary Dropout

Fox Restaurant Concepts has set an opening date of April 3 for its Culinary Dropout at the Yard location in downtown Gilbert.

The project, which was announced more than two years ago, is highly anticipated and will be the latest expansion of Sam Fox’s empire in his home state. It will be the seventh Culinary Dropout location.

Fox has been focusing a lot of his brands’ growth in other parts of the country over the past few years, but still is adding restaurants across the Valley.

The new restaurant, on the northeast corner of Gilbert Road and Hearn Way in Gilbert’s Heritage District, will be in a two-story, 25,000-square-foot space. It will feature indoor-outdoor seating, two private dining rooms and an outdoor entertainment area with games like cornhole and ping-pong, just like other Yard locations in Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson.

Fox worked with developer Common Bond Development Group on the project. Common Bond and FRC obtained the rights to develop the land from Gilbert in 2016. Shercon Construction was general contractor for the restaurant and architecture was done by Circle West Architects.

Culinary Dropout has proven to be one of Fox’s most popular concepts. Last year FRC closed down its seafood restaurant Little Cleo’s on Seventh Street in Phoenix so it could expand the Culinary Dropout location next door into that space.

FRC will hire 190 positions for the new Culinary Dropout location. The company will hold a job fair at the restaurant March 4-9 and March 11-16. The company will hire for a variety of jobs including management positions, chefs, line and prep cooks, bakers, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, hosts, security and banquet servers.

Fox recently announced that he’ll also open a location of his Blanco Tacos & Tequila brand in downtown Phoenix at the high-profile Block 23 development later this year.

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