Black Bear Burritos to open second location in Suncrest

Black Bear Burritos will soon have a second way to satisfy customers’ growling hunger.

Plans have been announced for a second location in the Suncrest area of Morgantown.

Owner Jason Coffman said he hopes to provide the Suncrest and Evansdale areas with the same great Black Bear taste and experience many have come to enjoy.

"We have always had the desire to grow our business," Coffman said. "Our hope is that with the second location, specifically in the Suncrest area, we’ll be able to reach a lot of folks who don’t travel downtown due to traffic or limited parking."

The new restaurant will feature a larger dining area; a larger stage for performers; a kitchen facility large enough to accommodate both catering and restaurant orders; 20 different draft beers, which includes West Virginia-brewed beers; and many custom designed elements, which includes a custom-made refurbished bar, Coffman said.

Co-owner Matthew Showalter said the custom-made elements, such as the bar made from repurposed wood, reflects the restaurant’s commitment to serving a fine dining experience while providing an eco-friendly environment.

"Our contractor had a lot of excess pallet woods that are usually discarded. They had been weathered and already had that old barn look, so we used them for the face of the bar," he said. "This highlights our desire to reuse and repurpose materials, which is a lot of what we stand for. We want to practice eco-friendly habits and always be thinking along those lines."

Showalter said he is excited to have the opportunity to improve upon the downtown location’s successes.

"I’m excited to focus on the little elements," he said. "Growing a business affords you the opportunity to add more detail. I think that it’s very exciting to be able to take extra time to improve upon what we’ve done downtown to better serve our customers."

Coffman said he has embraced the challenge of designing the new location, and he is excited to add more of a personal touch to the new location.

"In addition to the opportunity to expand within Morgantown, what excites me is the challenge itself. This is an opportunity to create a little more of what we want," he said. "With this location we were able to design about 70 percent of it, so to me the excitement is the challenge."

The restaurant is projected to open in mid-July.

"We want everyone to know that we still intend to keep the same concepts that have done us well downtown," Showalter said. "We’re bringing to Evansdale what we feel is a good representation of Morgantown. This will still be the same Black Bear Burritos that everyone knows – we’re just bringing it to another side of town."

For more information, visit the restaurant’s website at http://blackbearburritos.com.