New Henrico restaurant near RIC can stay open until 2 a.m.

If it's 1 a.m., you've just landed at the airport and you're hungry because your flight didn't have food, your options in eastern Henrico County are limited.

A few fast-food drive-throughs are open, but if you want a sit-down restaurant, there's Waffle House, or there's Waffle House.

A new restaurant planned for the Shops at White Oak Village may change that. The yet-to-be-built Steak'n Shake will be allowed to stay open from 5 a.m. until 2 a.m., thanks to a unanimous vote by the Henrico Board of Supervisors this month.

The restaurant and the shopping center are putting together a final agreement, said Jim Richardson, a vice president at Forest City Enterprises Inc., which developed White Oak at the intersection of Laburnum Avenue and Interstate 64.

Richardson said Steak'n Shake wanted to secure the extra operating hours before locking in a deal to construct the company's first Virginia restaurant. The Indiana chain operates 475 restaurants in 22 states, usually with a 24-hour operation.

He expects the Henrico location to open in the first quarter of next year.

Establishments at Short Pump Town Center, which was developed by Forest City in western Henrico, have the right to remain open until 2 a.m. under zoning approvals for that shopping center. The White Oak zoning case included a proffer prohibiting the center from being open before 6 a.m. or after midnight.

One exception already has been made for a 7-Eleven that's open 24 hours. Steak'n Shake would be the second conditional-use permit. Supervisor James B. Donati Jr., who represents Varina, wondered whether T.G.I. Friday's also would request longer hours at its new White Oak restaurant.

At the supervisors meeting, Ralph L. "Bill" Axselle Jr., representing Steak'n Shake, said the longer hours are needed to serve motorists on the interstate, local residents and air travelers.

"The last flight is a little after midnight. We have heard inquiries from people who want to know where to get something to eat before they go to their hotel," Axselle said.

He noted that the restaurant does not serve alcohol.

The Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission considered fairness in deciding to approve the longer hours.

"Our end of town is the part of town that's growing," Planning Commissioner E. Ray Jernigan said in recommending approval of the extended hours at the commission's July meeting.

"There's a lot of new restaurants. We want to be fair. . . . If everybody in the west end is open until 2 a.m., it looks discriminatory to have places in the east end closing at midnight."

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or