Richland — Business is going well in the Tri-Cities for the Fujiyama Japanese Steak House & Bar.

Owner Peter Chen of Olympia opened his third Fujiyama restaurant in Kennewick in June and plans to build a fourth in Richland.

“This will be a new building, the first one we’ve built from the ground up,” said regional manager Nick Serdar. “This is a new process for us and a lot of fun actually.”

“Cost will be in the $1.5 million range and up. When you’re remodeling or building, there are always more costs,” he said.

The new Fujiyama hibachi-style restaurant will be on Queensgate Drive behind Sterling’s Famous Steak, Seafood and Salad Bar.

“We’re excited about the location. There’s a lot of new building, a lot of traffic in that area,” Serdar said.

Chen expects to break ground sometime in November and have the 9,000-square-foot building ready to occupy in late spring.

“About 6,000 square feet of that will be the restaurant, the rest will be two retail spaces,” Serdar said.

The new restaurant will have the same look and menu but will be about 1,000 square feet larger than the Kennewick location in the Southridge area.

“It will also have what we call private dining booths, where you can enjoy an appetizer and drinks before joining one of the hibachi tables for dinner,” Serdar said.

The Olympia Fujiyama restaurant also has private dining, but the Fujiyama restaurants in Kennewick and Silverdale do not. The new restaurant will employ about 30 people.

The building was designed by Meier Architecture-Engineering of Kennewick. The builder will be Baker Construction of Spokane. Serdar said Chen plans to continue to expand but has no plans to build or open any additional restaurants right now.

-- Loretto J. Hulse: 582-1513; lhulse@tricityherald.com