Oct 7, 2014 2 min read

The first week of November, local diners may elect to go to LongHorn Steakhouse.

The national restaurant chain plans to open Nov. 3 – Election Day eve – in the Old Mill shopping complex, said Patrick Safran, director of operations for LongHorn in the Greater Pittsburgh area.

“We are in the process of hiring,” he said Tuesday morning, adding candidates should apply online at http://bit.ly/washingtonlh. About 100 will be employed at the South Strabane Township location.

Safran said construction is near completion there, where he and other managers will move in this week, then conduct job interviews next week. Heather Graytok, a Washington County native, will be the managing partner at the Old Mill LongHorn. She has been running the company’s Cranberry Township restaurant.

LongHorn is a casual dining chain specializing in steaks, chicken and seafood. It is operated by RARE Hospitality International Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Darden Restaurants of Orlando, Fla.

This will give Darden a T-Rex-sized footprint in the township. The company already owns two other restaurant brands there, both near the LongHorn site. Olive Garden opened in Old Mill in December 2012, and Red Lobster is across Route 19 in the Trinity Point shopping complex.

Looking up from Route 19 – Washington Road – LongHorn is at the right front of the 104-acre project, which is owned and operated by TSG Properties of St. Louis. It is on the site of The Foundry, a retail development that shut down in 2007 because of subsidence issues.

This LongHorn will have 6,196 square feet of space with seating for 242. There will be lunch, dinner and children’s menus, and alcohol will be available.

LongHorn will launch at 11 a.m. Nov. 3. Its hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

This will be the sixth LongHorn in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The other locations, besides South Strabane and Cranberry, are Robinson Township, West Homestead, Greensburg and Tarentum.