After nearly nine months of construction, A&W in Jefferson is finally open at their new location.

Manager Christina Mitchels says Thursday was their first “official” opening day at 300 North Elm Street, where the former Excuses restaurant used to be. However, they also had a soft opening on Wednesday night where they served about 400 customers. It allowed their employees to get in some final training and work out any kinks.

Mitchels explains some of the new features that their restaurant has compared to what it was before.

“Well we do have a drive-thru. The old store had a drive-up, you could come and order outside. But now we’re going to have a full-blown drive-thru, so that’s new for us. You do have an expanded dining room. It’s a lot larger and we’re able to seat 73 people now, so it’s a lot larger than what we had at the old location.”

A&W is also open all year around, whereas before, they were closed for the winter.

She points out that they took ownership of the new property last August and they wanted to open late February or early March, but due to construction delays, they held off opening until earlier this week. Mitchels adds that they also have an electronic board that they will not only use for themselves, but any non-profit organization that has a community event that they want to advertise can use it. Call them at 386-4712 for more information.

A grand opening celebration will be scheduled within the next couple of weeks.