Rock Solid Restaurants LLC, an Auburn, Wash.-based restaurant chain operator, has leased 5,000 square feet of floor space in Spokane Valley Mall and plans to open a Hop Jack’s restaurant there in early November. 

The eatery will be Rock Solid’s second Hop Jack’s in the Spokane area and its ninth overall. 

Lori Karstens, manager of the Hop Jack’s at 9265 N. Nevada, on Spokane’s North Side, says the new eatery will be located in a space previously occupied by an arcade and a Thomas Hammer coffee shop, near the Regal Cinemas Spokane Valley Stadium 12 theater complex.

“They’ve already cut the building and put some windows in,” says Karstens, who will transfer from the North Side location to the Valley restaurant once it opens.

The casual dining eatery focuses on hamburgers, sandwiches, and salads, as well as cold beer and cocktails. 

The restaurant will employ 90 people and will begin hiring during the first week of October, Karstens says. Hop Jack’s has been planning a Spokane Valley location since the company first expanded to the east side of the state.

“We always had an idea of opening three, one in the Valley, one on the North Side, and one on the South Hill,” Karstens says. “I was previously manager at the Red Robin over there for 15 years. I just knew we had to be over there. Everybody goes to the Valley for shopping and stuff.”

Rock Solid Restaurants owner Mark Eggen, of Auburn, opened the first Hop Jack’s restaurant in 2009 in Bonney Lake, Wash., east of Tacoma. 

With the addition of the Spokane Valley location, Hop Jack’s will have a total of nine restaurants. Other outlets are located in Maple Valley, Lynnwood, Lacey, and Silverdale, Wash. Karstens says the Tri-Cities area is next, with a tenth restaurant set to open in Richland next February, and a possible Kennewick location sometime after that. 

Hop Jack’s recently was presented with the National Restaurant Association’s 2014 Restaurant Neighbor Award for the chain’s commitment to community. 

According to the Washington Restaurant Association, Hop Jack’s donated over 100,000 meals to hunger relief agency Northwest Harvest last year, among other philanthropic projects.