Patt Johnson

Des Moines Register

Devotees of the never-frozen hamburgers and generous bags of french fries at Five Guys Burgers and Fries will be glad to know the Virginia-based chain is taking another chance on Iowa.

The popular burger chain will open a restaurant on Halloween in the Paradise Pointe retail development at 64th Street and Mills Civic Parkway. The shopping center is home to Kohl’s department store and several other new restaurants including Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, Pita Pit, Firehouse Subs and Panda Express.

There has been speculation for months that Five Guys, which operates 1,250 restaurants across the U.S., was coming to West Des Moines, but developers remained mum on the deal until a lease was signed.

The 2,400-square-foot restaurant will be in a new building at 455 S. 64th St. It will seat 50 to 80 people inside and another 10 on a patio.

The standard Five Guys menu includes a choice of eight burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches such as veggie, grilled cheese and bacon and lettuce and tomato, and french fries.

The company’s debut into the Hawkeye state was short-lived when it closed its Sioux City location in 2012, three years after it opened. “It wasn’t the right location,” said Lauren Lewis, company spokeswoman. The company is planning to open a second Iowa location sometime next year in Cedar Rapids, Lewis said.

The West Des Moines store will hire about 45 full- and part-time workers. The company is looking for managers. Interested candidates can email careers@fiveguys.com.