LEOMINSTER — After more than a decade of spending 12 hours a day behind a grill in a kitchen roughly the size of a utility closest, Louis Calderon has moved on to bigger and better things.
“I never thought of opening a bigger place because it was just big enough for me,” the owner of Super Wings explained. “That’s how I wanted it, but it grew.”
For 11 years, Calderon’s restaurant operated out of a small storefront on Central Street just big enough to fit a few tables inside and a roughly 80-square-foot kitchen. Super Wings very well might have stayed there had it not been for its popularity.
An ever-expanding menu and customer base pretty much forced Calderon and his family to buy a building on Whitney Street and relocate the restaurant there.
“You can move around here,” Calderon said with a smile. “You can come with people and sit with your family. You can enjoy the AC.”
The new location has only been open about a week, but it’s already clear the clientele haven’t had any problem with the transition.
“There are no better wings than this place,” said Antonio Ruiz, a regular from Fitchburg who’s been impressed by the new location. “I like this better. I like the scenery, the way they built the restaurant. It looks well built.”
Super Wings will still be offering the same favorites it’s always had, but the larger kitchen space means Calderon has been able to hire a larger staff that he is training to prepare a bigger menu. He’s expanded offerings with a greater focus on traditional Mexican dishes and Super Wings now has a kid’s menu for the first time ever.
Once his staff has settled in to their new surroundings, Calderon said he might open up the second half of the building as a function hall customers can rent.
The new dining room can seat about 40 people comfortably. The wide aisles between tables show that Calderon could fit more people if he wanted to, but he said he wants to just enjoy the space for now.
It also leaves enough room for his family to come in and work with him. His wife, Maria, and their three children, Louis Jr., Cristian, and Elena, are fixtures at the restaurant.
“It’s something we always wanted,” said Cristian Calderon. “It’s insane because I never thought it would get to this.”
The Calderons say that feedback has been good since the move and that they no longer have to turn customers away when there isn’t a place for them to sit.
“It’s really nice,” said Louis Calderon. “Sometimes I’ll look at Facebook on my phone and see all of these nice compliments. I guess I’m doing something right.”
Follow Peter Jasinski on Twitter @PeterJasinski53
