The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille has opened its first location in New Jersey: an 8,181-square-foot franchise restaurant with a 1,456-square-foot patio, at 211 Main Street in North Brunswick.

The new restaurant is the first to open under a multi-unit development agreement for South and Central New Jersey signed by Imperial Restaurant Group LLC. Now with a foothold in New Jersey, The Greene Turtle’s first Pennsylvania unit opening in April and a third signed lease in Long Island, New York, The Greene Turtle is focused on finding strategic partners to develop exclusive territories in the balance of New Jersey and in the Northeast.

“We enjoy a strong presence in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area, and have secured what we need to replicate that concentration up the East Coast,” says Vice President of Franchise Development Tom Finn. “We now have 45 open restaurants, and multi-unit development agreements in place for the Philadelphia area, for South and Central Jersey and for Long Island. We want to secure a similar agreement with the right partner in North Jersey, then continue into New York State, Connecticut and into New England.

“Over the next decade we expect to cover a large portion of the Eastern Seaboard with our much-loved brand,” he adds.

The Greene Turtle’s menu combines crab-based dishes and other food reflective of the chain’s Maryland roots combined with burgers, salads, sandwiches, wings and other comfort food, creating broad demographic appeal. Its beverage program, stocked with proprietary, craft and high-profile alcoholic and non-alcoholic brands, promotes a “category-topping percentage of high-margin beverage sales as a portion of overall sales,” the company says.