Spokane-based Sweeto Burrito franchisee Scott Isaak says he plans to open three more establishments here this year, and has his sights set on opening more Sweeto Burritos in the Tri-Cities area next year.

He opened Spokane’s first Sweeto Burrito at 15705 E. Broadway in Spokane Valley at the end of May 2015.

“It’s like watching the plague grow,” Isaak says of Sweeto Burrito’s popularity. “We started delivering. We’ll take a burrito to an office, and word—and smell—travels,” Isaak says. “The next thing you know, we’re taking a half dozen back to the same office later in the day.”

Isaak says Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, has the contract to build and remodel spaces for the planned new restaurants.

Two of the restaurants here will open on Spokane’s North Side, and another is planned in North Idaho at a location yet to be determined, Isaak says.

The North Idaho restaurant will be constructed from the ground up, as will a restaurant planned at 1814 N. Division. The third restaurant here will occupy the former Shakey’s Pizza Parlor at 9602 N. Newport Highway in the Northpointe Plaza shopping center, Isaak says. That building, which has nearly 2,700 square feet of space, is being remodeled in a project that started at the end of May, he says.

Construction of the restaurant on Division Street, near the intersection of Division and Nora Avenue, is expected to begin in about a month, says Andrea Barlow, business development manager for Vandervert Construction.

A vacant structure that had been located on that site, across Nora from a White Elephant retail store, was demolished recently to make way for the new single-story, 2,700-square-foot structure, which is expected to cost about $1 million to develop, says a pre-development application filed with the city of Spokane. The application lists Hurtado|Hissong Design Group LLC as the project architect.

Construction of the North Idaho restaurant is scheduled to begin before the end of August, Barlow says.

Isaak says each restaurant will employ roughly 30 workers.

The Sweeto Burrito franchise company, based near Provo, Utah, says there now are 10 Sweeto Burrito restaurants in seven states. However, Isaak says future growth is going to occur primarily in Washington and Utah. The franchise company was founded by Deer Park native J.P. Francia.

Isaak, who spent more than 40 years farming before acquiring Sweeto Burrito franchise rights, says, “I’ve got the franchise rights in Eastern Washington, and on the West Side in Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.”