New Eagle restaurant still to open — with half the seats, 1 menu, 2 patios. Here’s when.

When Crave Kitchen & Bar opens this summer, a few details will be different than co-owner Derek Hood originally envisioned.

The Eagle restaurant likely will debut four to six weeks later than planned. “Probably late June or after July 4,” Hood says.

Seating inside the 7,000-square-foot restaurant — and on a rooftop patio and larger back patio — will be spaced widely, Hood assumes. For social distancing reasons.

That will mean fewer customers — and consequently, less need for separate lunch and dinner menus, he says.

“Probably anticipating social distancing when the restaurant’s open, the guidelines, it cuts your restaurant almost in half as far as the seating’s concerned,” Hood says. “We can just put everything on one menu as opposed to trying to do two different menus. That’s one benefit out of all of this.”

When Crave does open, it will strive for a “blue jeans and tuxedos” atmosphere, Hood says. “It’s not necessarily fine dining. It’s not necessarily casual dining. It’s somewhere in between,” he told the Statesman in January. “Something called ‘polished’ dining.”

Part of the Bridges at Lakemoor development, Crave is being built across a pond from the Intuit building. The coronavirus pandemic caused supply delays from other parts of the country, Hood says. But construction at 165 E. Colchester Drive has not stopped. Idaho workers, wearing masks, have been “outstanding,” he says.

When dine-in restaurants are allowed to reopen, Hood says he expects customers to gravitate to outdoor patios. So a separate rooftop food-and-drink menu at Crave is still planned, Hood says. “We’re really excited about it,” he says.

And one nice thing about fewer seats? Crave staff will be able to work out any kinks in a calmer environment. New restaurants typically enjoy an initial, busy “honeymoon” period, Hood says.

“When you open ... you try to make sure guests have a great experience,” explains Hood, who also co-owns the regional Lucky Fins/Smokin’ Fins/Naked Fins chain. “If you have 300 seats, and all of a sudden you have 150 seats (instead), it’s a lot easier to take care of 150 people rather than 300 right out of the gate.”

He chuckles, then adds: “You have to find the positives!”

▪ Online: facebook.com/cravekitchenbareagle.

This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 12:18 PM.