Old Church's Chicken building on Yadkin Road got a facelift. What restaurant is moving in?

A former Church’s Chicken on Yadkin Road in Fayetteville has been vacant since it closed early last year.

There are new signs of life, however, at the 2,664-square-foot building in the Ponderosa Shopping Center at the corner of Yadkin Road and Bonanza Drive, about a mile outside the Yadkin gate to Fort Liberty.

The exterior has been painted gray and red, and signs hung at the front and on the side of the building read “Teriyaki Express.”

Seafood will be the focus of the new restaurant, property owner Joe Riddle of Riddle Commercial Properties said Tuesday.

Teriyaki Express is under the same ownership as Tasty Crab in the Westwood Shopping Center, Riddle Commercial Properties broker Bill McFayden said Tuesday.

Tasty Crab management did not return multiple requests for comment Tuesday.

Yadkin Road spot has been home to burger and chicken restaurants for decades

Riddle said the restaurant was a Burger King in the '80s, but it closed a few years later when a new Burger King on Fort Liberty began to undercut sales.

The building then became an outpost of Elizabethtown restaurant Melvin's Hamburgers & Hot Dogs, Riddle said, then was replaced by Texas chain Church's Chicken.

"We've sold hamburgers there twice, then chicken, and now we're going to try seafood," Riddle said.

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Other than signage, no plans to renovate the building or requests for other permits at the property have been submitted for city review, spokesperson Brian Rick said Monday.

Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at [email protected] or on Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter. 

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Teriyaki Express to take former Church's Chicken spot in Fayetteville