On Tuesday Nov. 19, when Munchies Burgers co-owner Mike Searcy turned the sign on for opening day, he was hoping for a “soft opening.”

So, when lunchtime business was slow, he didn’t mind. But word got out, and come dinnertime, people aplenty found the restaurant near the corner of 29 and D roads.

“We got slammed after that. Like running out of parking, which is 130 parking spots,” said Searcy, who is known to many as Munchie Mike. “We didn’t run out of seating (that day), but we’ve had it completely full several times already.”

That’s impressive, because the 6,800-square-foot restaurant, which is about 1,800 square feet larger than Fruita’s Munchies location, seats 240 people.

That didn’t take long

Speaking of Munchies Pizza & Deli at 550 Kokopelli Drive in Fruita, Searcy said the Grand Junction location “already broke all the records Fruita had.” That’s not to diminish what Fruita’s Munchies has accomplished. After all, it has been in business nearly 45 years, and its success is what allowed Searcy and his wife, Kimberly, to build a Grand Junction location.

Please be patient

The thing about being super-duper busy is it causes the cook times to increase. At a normal pace, Searcy said cook times are 10 to 12 minutes. But when the restaurant gets slammed, as is common with new restaurants, the cook times become 25 to 30 minutes.

Searcy asks patrons to please be patient, his employees are doing their best under difficult circumstances, especially when much of the help is still being trained.

Need a job?

When asked how many people Munchies Burgers employs, Searcy said he isn’t sure, because he’s still hiring people. He estimated he has 45 employees now, and he wants to increase that number to 55.

Avoid the rush

Skip the peak times for dining, and Munchies Burgers stills has customers, but mid-afternoon for a late lunch or early dinner should make for quicker arrival of meals.

Don’t let the name fool you

The Grand Junction restaurant is named Munchies Burgers. The Fruita restaurant is named Munchies Pizza & Deli. But rest assured: You can get a burger at the pizza joint and a pizza at the burger joint. Searcy said they “pretty well have the same menu.”