A local restaurant owner saw opportunity when a regional franchise was evicted this summer from its home in one of the area’s biggest shopping hubs.

Now Nick Panos - a second-generation restaurateur with family ties to at least a dozen Ann Arbor eateries - will spend the next month converting the former Big Boy at 3030 Lohr Road into his own new concept.

Nick Panos stands in the kitchen of his new breakfast eatery, Nick's Original Pancake House, formerly a Big Boy, located at 3030 Lohr Cr. Panos hopes to have the restaurant open in October.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Nick’s Original House of Pancakes will serve about 15 varieties of its namesake dish, along with items like homemade soup, burgers from Knight’s Meat Market and sandwich wraps.

“We should be open, barring major catastrophes, by the end of October,” Panos said.

He signed the lease on Sept. 14 and spent much of last week making plans to transform the space.

It helps that much of it is turnkey: Booths, equipment and layout are all optimal for the new endeavor, he said, and keeps his startup costs at under $100,000.

“I want to make it look nice,” he said. “I need to give it it’s own restaurant look, not just like we moved into a Big Boy.”

Panos’ ties to the Ann Arbor restaurant scene run deep: He owns Smokehouse Blues on Washtenaw and formerly owned Zydeco downtown and the Brown Jug near campus. His mother, Helen, owns Village Kitchen on the west side of town. His aunt Gina Pantely runs the Broken Egg on North Main. And his father, Demos, has the Chelsea Grill.

When he found out the Big Boy would be re-leased, he and his broker, Jim Chaconas of Colliers International, talked quickly to owner Vijay Sahore.

“We told him not to put a sign up,” Panos said.

Negotiations concluded quickly, aided in part, Chaconas said, by Panos’ local ties and hands-on experience - and a business model that didn’t include a franchise fee as part of the overhead.

Much of the restaurant industry is softening with the downturn, but Chaconas said the family-style model with moderate pricing remains strong.

Panos said he’ll capitalize on that trend: He expects to build a regular clientele who will visit several times a week for quality breakfast and lunch menus. And by specializing on an affordable niche, he doesn’t feel the pressure to stay open beyond 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily with a dinner menu - especially with several chain restaurants nearby - to maximize daily traffic volume.

“There are (formats) that try to capture every dollar,” he said. “But I don’t think that works anymore.”

Panos is excited about the location near I-94 and Ann Arbor-Saline Road. He’s even planning to open as early as 3 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving to be a part of the Black Friday shopping rush.

“I don’t think anybody’s worked harder for less money than restaurant people right now,” he said. “It’s really tough, really competitive. In these times, it’s nice to get an opportunity to do a restaurant like this.”

Paula Gardner is business director at AnnArbor.com. Contact her at by email or at (734) 623-2586.