Rio Rancho’s newest McDonald’s restaurant is set to open in mid-July.
That, however, depends on a variety of factors, from the pandemic to weather to the availability of workers. But work on the site next to the Walgreen’s pharmacy at the intersection of Northern Blvd. and Unser Blvd. is under way.
The restaurant’s grand opening, said owner Clemy Garza, is in the planning stage now. And there may be a week’s worth of specials to look forward to.
“We are hoping that COVID is still down and that we can do a special grand opening event for friends and their families of all ages with city officials, and entertainment and prizes,” she said.
“It will be a fun day.”
The site was chosen by McDonald’s corporate, which could be an indicator that the area is ripe for additional commercial development.
McDonald’s, Clemy said, ‘figures out where the growth is. They do it based on population growth and traffic growth.”
“There was obviously a need,” she said. “I don’t control where McDonald’s decides to put a McDonald’s. I totally feel that as our city has grown and continues to grow, we need to be able to accommodate that growth.”
The Garza family lives in Rio Rancho. They own all of the McDonald’s in the city. In fact, Clemy’s father, Julian 35 years ago opened the McDonald’s at 1390 Rio Rancho Blvd.
In all, they own 9 McDonald’s restaurants, Clemy said.
“As a citizen who lives and works here, I think we all agree that there are a lot of housing developments that have been popping up, new business coming and Intel is growing,” she said. “It makes sense that we all need a place for affordable quality food with a family atmosphere.”
