Three New Restaurants To Open

A trio of restaurants are on the way to opening in Paramus after receiving approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday.

Moe's Southwest Grill on Route 17 south and the Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze at Bergen Town Center all got the nod.

The Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze were approved despite concerns from the Board regarding pedestrian safety at the mall. The restaurants will be built in place of the Lincoln Technical Institute building.

A road leading from Route 4 to the rest of the mall lies to the east of the proposed site for the restaurants, and the Board was concerned about pedestrians crossing from the eastern parking lot to the restaurants. The mall agreed to build a 5-foot-high fence along the road to direct pedestrians to a crosswalk at the southernmost point of the road.

The attorney for the Bergen Town Center, James Delia, said the mall would also agree to post signs directing people to park in a garage just south of the restaurants.

"I think we've done everything we can to make this a safe site," he said.

The owners of Moe's Southwest Grill plan to convert the former Charles Schwab building on 175 Route 17 south into a "fast-casual" restaurant, in line with establishments like Subway and Qdoba. The Board agreed to return the site to its original use as a restaurant—before it was used as an office, the lot was home to a restaurant called Manero's.