Chain restaurants open new sites in Modesto area, serving up burgers, soup, sandwiches
Stanislaus County residents will get a generous second serving, or in some cases third and fourth, of some area restaurants — including national chains and locally owned expansions.
The new openings include the county’s fourth In-N-Out location. The cult favorite West Coast burger chain opened its newest restaurant in the new Ceres Gateway shopping center at Service and Mitchell roads — across from the Walmart Supercenter. The new location joins two existing stores in Modesto (one on Sisk Road and one on Pelandale Avenue) and one in Turlock on Countryside Drive.
The new Ceres site is the third restaurant to open in the new retail development, which has already seen the opening of a new Starbucks and Chipotle. Ono Hawaiian BBQ and Popeyes Louisiana Chicken are still under construction there as well.
The new In-N-Out, the privately owned chain’s 386th location nationwide, opened with 93 employees. The site, at 2954 Service Road, has indoor and outdoor seating, a drive-thru and will be open 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. daily.
But if burgers aren’t your thing, how about another kind of sandwich? (Yes, burgers are technically sandwiches — this is not up for debate.) Sourdough & Co., a sandwich shop that specializes in, as the name suggests, creations made on its fresh baked sourdough rolls, is opening two locations in Modesto this week, following the opening of a restaurant in Oakdale last month.
The fast-growing Northern California chain first opened in the region in 2021, with its Turlock site right next door to California State University, Stanislaus. The sandwich shop’s newest location at 1570 E F St. in Oakdale in the Tractor Supply shopping center had a soft opening the day after Christmas and opened for its regular hours Jan. 2.
Husband-and-wife team David Niemoeller and Kara Davis own the location, which is their first restaurant business. Niemoeller spent the last 12 years as a truck driver, and would deliver products to the Turlock site. Through those deliveries he got to know its owner DJ Singh and other people in the company. He decided to make a career change and open his own site.
“I went from delivering food to (Sourdough & Co.) to now buying food from my old company as a customer and getting deliveries at my own Sourdough & Co.,” Niemoeller said.
The location has been popular since its opening, sometimes even running out of ingredients because of demand. He asked that customers be patient, as a new restaurant owner with a staff of new-to-restaurants employees, there has been a learning curve. But he’s pleased with the reception so far and thanks customers for their patience.
Singh, meanwhile, is opening two new sites in Modesto back-to-back this week. The first will be a new Sourdough & Co. on Dale Road, which will open on Monday across from the Kaiser Permanente hospital. Then another location on H Street in the Smart & Final shopping Center will open Tuesday.
The chain par-bakes its bread daily in San Francisco, and delivers it six days a week to store sites, where it is then cooked the rest of the way to be fresh and crunchy for customers. The bread is used in the chain’s almost two dozen sandwich styles and their clam chowder bread bowls.
All of the new Stanislaus County locations, including the soon-to-open Modesto sites, are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit sourdoughandco.com.
And finally, folks looking for a nice bowl of soup have another location of The Pho to enjoy in Modesto. The locally owned Vietnamese restaurant opened its first Modesto location in June 2021 in northeast Modesto. Now the restaurant from owner Thuan Do, who also owns the Kung Fu Tea locations in the area, is open on the northwest part of town.
The new Modesto site is the third Do has opened. He also has a location in Stockton, and another is planned in a couple months for Manteca. The new Modesto location right next door to the new Sourdough & Co., is across from the Kaiser hospital on Dale Road.
Like its other branches, the northwest Modesto The Pho offers traditional Vietnamese favorites from the signature soup from its name to bahni mi sandwiches, rice dishes, bubble tea and more in a contemporary restaurant setting. The restaurant, at 4500 Dale Road, is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. For more information, call 209-567-2049 or visit www.facebook.com/Thephoca.
