By Rebecca Flannery, Arts Editor
Twisted Root Burger Co. is uprooting its Dallas-bred restaurant and opening shop at 11 a.m. Monday at 801 S. Second St. However, while the interior is on target for completion by opening day, the vibrant mural on the outside won’t be finished until the end of next week.
“We will be open Monday even though the outside is a week behind,” said Michael Cooper, general manager of the establishment. “We’re a bit upset about that, but there’s nothing we can do about weather conditions.”
Dan Holzschoh, the independent muralist hired for the paint job, said he and his assistant were given two weeks to complete the entire exterior of the former Texas Playhouse building.
“We had these proofs drawn up to show the city and they wanted us to change a few things,” Holzschoh said. “Originally this scene from ‘War of the Worlds’ was going to have burgers as the spaceships. They didn’t approve.”
Holzschoh and his assistant, Isaac Brown, will be taking an additional week to complete the project due to lack of help and severity of the heat, he said.
“We tried to reach out to Waco-based artists, tag-artists and painters for help,” Holzschoh said. “None of them got back to us about it. I’d take the help if someone with experience is willing.”
Holzschoh said he’d consider taking help from Baylor’s art students, provided they had experience with painting murals.
Twisted Root Burger will be open Monday through Sunday, but the hours are tentative, Cooper said.
“Right now we’re basing a lot of operational things off of the SMU location we have [in Dallas],” Cooper said. “We haven’t determined the exact hours of operation yet.”
The restaurant will close at 10 p.m. on Monday, Cooper said.
“There’s not much left to be done on the inside,” Cooper said. “We’re mainly unpacking things and organizing everything in here. We even received some food today.”
Cooper and his administrative team will be training new employees on Friday, he said. They will continue accepting applications on a rolling basis and Cooper said he’s always willing to hire someone with a positive disposition.
“We love big smiles and a good attitude,” Cooper said.
The team began renovations in the building about 80 days ago, Cooper said.
“We’re all really excited to open,” Cooper said. “This whole thing is a fairly new concept to me because I have only ran a Carl’s Junior before. But we’re ready to get the place up and running.”
Other restaurants opening on the opposite side of I-35 this semester are Freddy’s, In-N-Out and Steel City Popsicles.
