Restaurateur Thom Turnock says he’s looking forward to doing business with the Lake Highlands community. He hopes to open The Varsity Grill at 9310 Forest Lane (in the same center as Brothers Pizza and in the former Coach’s Burger spot) in October. Specializing in burgers, meaty hot wings, (“we’re not talking little Wing Stop wings,” Turnock says) the menu will be extensive and include salads and kids’ stuff. He will also sell beer and wine for now—maybe more if the wet/dry referendum passes, he says.

Turnock owns a similarly themed restaurant called Central Grill in Denton on the University of North Texas campus. Urbanspoon commenters seem to like that place. Expect to see new signage around the location soon, and flags on the roof (the flags took some doing with the city, he notes). He’ll  also redo the inside a bit, and probably won’t open the large dining room in back for now. Turnock seems like an interesting guy—worked for Fed Ex for 20-some years, got transferred to Southern California where he bought a corn roaster and began selling food on beaches and at state fairs. “That’s how I got into the (restaurant) business,” he says. “It’s really that I like the people. You’ve gotta have a passion for your work. That’s what I tell the students. I loved Fed Ex, but this is something I really have fun with.”

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