Montana's Rib & Chop House coming to Southpointe II

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Exterior of Montana's Rib & Chop House.

Tim Schooley

Reporter- Pittsburgh Business Times

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Horizon Properties Group LLC has landed Montana's Rib & Chop House to help round out the dining options at its Southpointe Town Center.

The western Pennsylvania operator of the steakhouse chain has signed a deal to open a 6,000-square-foot restaurant at Southpointe, shooting to open next April or May.

A Southpointe location for Montana's Rib & Chop House will be the third location for operators Charlie and Tanya Bish, who opened their first in Meadville, Charlie Bish's Crawford County hometown, in 2009, followed by a Hermitage restaurant, Tanya Bish's hometown, three years ago.

"We like western Pennsylvania. That's home for us," said Charlie Bish, who became familiar with the restaurant on a skiing trip more than 10 years ago and opted to bring it home. "We looked at several locations on where we might strategize for some growth and we just fell in love with this opportunity right now."

With its seven other restaurants located in Montana, Utah and Wyoming, Montana's Rib & Chop House strives to avoid the limited steakhouse business formula to also offer ribs and other barbecue. A broader menu approach also comes with a more casual setting, and more moderate prices. Bish put the per-person lunch check average of about $10 and a per-person dinner check average in the low $20s.

"We really have customers that are all over the board," he said. "We're always very cautious to make people understand that we're not a high-end steak house."

The new restaurant is expected to seat 220, including two private meeting rooms, and will be open for both lunch and dinner, offering a to-go menu that Bish expects will be a good match to serve the neighboring offices of such companies as Mylan Inc. (NYSE: MYL), Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) and Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL).

Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, construction, hospitality, arts and entertainment, and government. Contact him at tschooley@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3826.