This mom-and-pop burger place with a big following to open first Clovis restaurant

People can’t stop peeking in the door at what will soon be the first Triangle Burgers Drive In in Clovis.

The restaurant is taking over the space at 200 W. Shaw Ave. near Villa Avenue, in the former BJ’s Kountry Kitchen. Triangle isn’t open yet – and probably won’t be until late December.

But fans are already excited about the old-school diner known for its burgers, crinkle-cut fries and milkshakes. An all-out celebration broke out on the restaurant’s Facebook page when the news was announced.

Owner Zahi Saleh says he plans to put paper over the windows so customers will see the finished product and not the messy transition phase.

“We want it to be a surprise. I want people to come here and be like, ‘Wow.’ That’s my goal.”

This will be the fourth restaurant for Triangle Burger, as some call it.

“We always wanted a presence here in Clovis,” Saleh says. “We just couldn’t find anything that worked.”

This one won’t have a drive-thru, though it does have a big patio.

When finished, it will have the same 1950s retro feel of the other restaurants. Saleh promises some arcade games and something involving a life-size replica of part of a 1957 Chevy. But he wants to keep the rest a secret until it opens.

It will look drastically different than its predecessor, BJ’s Kountry Kitchen. Earlier this week, the restaurant was gutted. The only bit of BJ’s left were some plaid wallpaper, floral valance curtains and a string of pine cone lights.

BJ’s owner declined to comment about why the diner closed. The other BJ’s Kountry Kitchen locations are owned by different people and will remain open.

This story was originally published October 27, 2017 at 9:46 AM with the headline "This mom-and-pop burger place with a big following to open first Clovis restaurant."