Bahama Grill Cafe is gearing up for major expansion in just a matter of weeks after entering the industry less than three years ago.
The locally-owned business on West Bay Street is pouring "hundreds of thousands of dollars" into the restaurant to create an in-house dining experience with a bar and lounge. Meanwhile, the brand is seeking to open three more outlets as it makes the transition from a single location to a full-fledged franchise.
Eric Gibson Jr., the owner of Bahama Grill, told Guardian Business that since opening the takeout restaurant's doors in December 2009 the concept has been extremely successful.
"Bahamians love chicken, ribs and conch so when I opened in 2009, I wanted to see if offering these foods at affordable prices would be a viable market. So far, it has been working," according to Gibson.
The renovation and expansion of the original Bahama Grill is approximately six weeks away from completion.
"It's a significant investment. Ordinarily a restaurant of this size wouldn't have invested what I have invested. I started a concept that's going to become a full franchise," he shared.
He projected that there will be four Bahama Grill locations in total throughout New Providence, one in the east, one further west and one in the Carmichael Road area.
Gibson added that these expansions will take place on the heels of the restaurant's existing expansion.
Once the local expansions are completed, Gibson revealed there are plans to take the brand international.
As the brand expands, Gibson said employment opportunities would increase.
Currently, the Bahama Grill Café has 12 full-time employees but that number is expected to double very soon.
"We expect that number to more than double in the next six weeks once construction is completed on our restaurant," Gibson added.
"We expect to have a compliment of 25 to 30 staff. So those employee numbers are expected to more than double in a matter of weeks."
In addition to its popular rotisserie, barbecue and grilled chicken, beef ribs, regular pork ribs and baby-back ribs, Gibson shared that the restaurant recently added a special burger to its menu.
"We recently introduced a BG burger that's doing very well, a handmade sirloin burger. We are getting ready to add a conch burger and fish burger to the menu. Once we are finished with the expansion, we will also be offering fish, lobster and shrimp," he explained. 

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