Stacks' likely to open in Menlo for breakfast, lunch Stacks' likely to open in Menlo for breakfast, lunch (May 22, 2002)

**Expect long waits, if three others are any indicator.

By Pam Smith

Almanac Staff Writer

Stacks' restaurant will serve up "All-American breakfast and lunch" in downtown Menlo Park by the end of this summer, if a final lease is signed as expected this week.

Walt Harrington, who owns the now-empty storefront at 600 Santa Cruz Ave., as well as Geoffrey Swenson, one of the local restaurant chain's two owners, said last Thursday that they expected to sign a lease this week if all goes well.

Koo Koo Roo, a fast-service homestyle chicken joint, filled the roughly 4,000-square-foot location on the corner of El Camino Real for about five years until it closed last January. Before that, it was a Fresh Choice restaurant.

After some refurbishment to turn the old counter-service Koo Koo Roo into a 115-person, full-service restaurant, the business owners hope to open Stacks' on August 1, Mr. Swenson said.

"It'll be exactly the same concept" as Stacks' in Redwood City, Burlingame and Campbell, where customers routinely wait an hour on weekends, said Mr. Swenson.

Other Stacks' have been serving up "very large portions" for up to 10 years, said Mr. Swenson. "Everything is made from scratch."

Even the hours will be the same: 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., seven days a week.

The large menu ranges from steak and eggs to biscuits and gravy, French toast, waffles, omelets, soups, frittatas, and of course, the eponymous stacks of pancakes. Most dishes fall in the $5-to-$10 range.

Stacks' does not serve alcohol, noted Mr. Harrington.

If all goes as planned and Stacks' moves in, it will bring the small complex of businesses on that street corner full circle, said Mr. Harrington.

Michael's, another breakfast place, was located at the site of the present Bay View Bank from the early 1950s until 1991, when Mr. Harrington's company redeveloped the corner, he said.

The complex includes Color Me Mine, the paint-it-yourself pottery shop; Amanda, a florist and wine shop; Gentry magazine; and Bay View Bank.

"It's a good corner ... even in spite of the economy," said Mr. Harrington.