Checkers drive-thru coming to West Allis

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West Allis will get a new burger restaurant in the summer.

Tampa-based Checkers and Rally’s in February is expected to start construction of a 1,005-square foot, double drive-thru burger restaurant at 11013 W. Greenfield Ave. The restaurant will replace a former gas station on Wisconsin Highway 59 and will officially open in mid-July 2025. The construction timeline will take around six months.

Checkers is looking to spend around $1.4 million on the new development, said Robert Bhagwandat, senior director of franchise development for Checkers Drive In Restaurants.

The restaurant will be owned by franchisee owners Sanjay Patel and Thomas Roepsch operating under MKE Burgers Inc. Patel leads a franchisee group and signed with Checkers to build between five and six more restaurants around the Milwaukee area, Bhagwandat said. The West Allis restaurant will be the first coming to Milwaukee’s suburbs over the next four years, he added.

Checkers’ menu specializes in burgers, chicken wings, hot dogs, milkshakes and fish. The restaurant comes with a double drive thru, a patio and parking spaces for customers who order online.

Construction is led by Nate Keller of Franklin-based Tillit in partnership with Franklin-based Synergy Homes. Dan Beyer Architects, a West Allis firm, also has a role in the project.

Built to fit in anywhere

The West Allis location will be built from the ground up, but Checkers is also one of the fast food companies that delivers modular restaurants.

“Our buildings are more modular based than anything else in most cases,” Bhagwandat said. “Because of the design we have, we can pivot to any format we would like to. If someone would like to order a modular building and have it manufactured and shipped to the play, they can. The prototypical plans are also slated for concrete masonry or wood frame too,” he added.

The restaurant materials can be tweaked to work in any part of the country, such as wood frame construction for areas with earthquake activity or concrete masonry for tropical areas that face hurricanes, Bhagwandat noted. Franchise owners can also opt for a modular building to save time and money during construction.

Checkers works with Las Vegas-based Xtreme Cubes to complete modular construction work, Bhagwandat said. The building is shipped out in three pieces on several wide flat bed trucks and shipped to location. A crane offloads the building from flatbeds and the general contractor will put the pieces together over two to three days, he added.

In West Allis, construction will be completed in June and official opening will be in July after the location is staffed and passes inspection, Bhagwandat said. Typical Checkers staff are made up of 15 to 20 people with three to four full time people, but the franchisee ultimately decides how many workers are on site, he added.

Fast food restaurant technology is channging

The 1,005-square-foot restaurant is the typical prototype in Checkers’ restaurant “fleet,” Bhagwandat said. The brand offers a smaller 650-square-foot restaurant option for owners in areas with lower populations, he added.

Artificial intelligence is also taking on a larger role inside the restaurant. Introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, AI will let staff serve customers quickly and accurately, Bhagwandat said.

“What the artificial intelligence has allowed us to do is increase our accuracy to 95%,” Bhagwandat said. “It limits the amount of bad impressions a consumer may have if an order is incorrect. It also takes pressure off the staff, which makes sure you don’t have as much turnover. Believe it or not, hiring a new person and training them costs a lot more than someone you can keep and develop,” he added.