It’s offical…the new Topeka’s Steakhouse N’ Saloon at Peter Jefferson Place on Pantops, right in front of the Hilton Garden Suites, opens on Monday, November 24 at 11am.

Back in January, Topeka’s owner Phil Cornett predicted a May opening. Well, he was only about five months off! As anyone who has driven by the site can tell, construction on the new steakhouse has been elaborate. It almost looks like some kind of mini, altered version of Monticello. Indeed, a building permit last year put the construction cost at $850,000. As Cornett told us, this is the third restaurant in his nascent franchise operation; the other Topeka’s are in Richmond and Midlothian.

Topeka’s has a reputation for friendly service, beefy salads (big, not meat-powered), something for everyone on the menu, a great kid’s menu, and– like Five Guys– buckets of salted peanuts in their shells to munch on while you wait. Besides aging and cutting their own beef “to retain as much of the natural juices as possible,” Cornett said they’d started something called a “butcher shop concept.” Basically, you can order Topeka cut slabs of raw meat to go.

“It’s a really cool little added thing for our customers,” said Cornett. “For customers who are confident in their grilling skills, I should say.”

Oh, and since the opening is on a Monday…kids eat free!