Photo courtesy of Kickshaws Fast Gastro Food & Drink

Kickshaws Fast Gastro Food & Drink is owner Joe Elliott’s first venture into the independent restaurant industry, but he’s using 40 years of experience at TGI Fridays and Chuck E. Cheese to guide him.

“It’s been challenging — a whole lot of work,” Elliott says. “But it’s been fun.”

The family-owned casual eatery at Northwest Highway is slated to open in early March, CultureMap reported on Friday. The menu is composed of small bites, burgers and entrees ranging from Guinness braised short ribs to roasted mushroom barley bowls.

The concept is an amalgamation of two emerging food trends: the fast casual restaurant and the gastropub, Elliott says.

“I just liked that people were getting back to their roots with doing craft beers and how it was forcing people to re-evaluate the food that was going along with it.”

Kickshaw is a play on “quelque chose,” a French expression that means choose something. Once the restaurant is established, providing customers with options is a priority for Elliott.

“Our intent is as we make changes, whether it’s as simple as a wine list or craft beer list, we’d like them to engage with us and tell us what they’d like to have.”