Tom's Burgers, church coming to Mentone

I know it isn't Highland, but since the small town of Mentone rarely gets any coverage, and it's Highland's neighbor, I try and report regularly on the going-ons there and post it to this blog. Here's the latest:

Keeping in step with this small town's changing landscape, a new burger joint and a new church will soon open on Mentone Boulevard.

Tom's Burgers is going up at the northeast corner of Mentone Boulevard and Turquoise Avenue and Amethyst Bible Church is building a new sanctuary on the northwest corner of Mentone Boulevard and Amethyst Avenue.

Construction recently started on Tom's Burgers, which is expected to be completed by early Spring, owner Sandy Karpouzis said.

She and her husband Perry started the burger chain 30 years ago in Compton, and have since opened restaurants in Santa Monica, Colton and Redlands. They sold their Colton and Compton locations, but the Santa Monica and Redlands restaurants are still thriving.

The couple purchased the lot in Mentone in 2004 and have been working to get the new restaurant built ever since, Karpouzis said.

"It looked like Mentone had a potential to grow. It looked like things were starting to change there," she said.

Tom's prides itself on its "made fresh" foods, and is known primarily for its chili fries, chili burgers and Mexican dishes.

The restaurant will include a drive through. Hours will be 5-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Up the road, at Mentone Boulevard and Amethyst Avenue, construction is nearing completion on Amethyst Bible Church.

For 30 years, the church has leased or rented space from various places including the cafeteria at the University of Redlands, an office space across from Citrus Plaza and the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Brookside Avenue in Redlands. The church is currently holding its services in the auditorium at Mentone Elementary School, said Steve Podolock, the church's senior pastor.

About 10 years ago, the former senior pastor and his colleagues started scouting locations, about 50 of them, for a new sanctuary, and chose the Mentone site. Collections from sanctuary members in the last decade funded the construction project, Podolock said.

"They felt this would be a good location for a church, especially since it's a growing area," he said.

The goal is to get the church open sometime in the Spring.

"It could be sooner, but the last few projects we'll probably do ourselves, like the drywall and painting," Podolock said.

Once construction is complete, the church will host a grand opening and open house, Podolock said.

Last year, Caltrans completed a shoulder-widening project on the highway from Wabash Avenue to Crafton Avenue and built sidewalks on the north and south sides of the highway. Two vacant lots on the south side of the highway, just west of Crafton Avenue, are also slated for commercial development. A traffic signal also went up at the intersection of Wabash and Lugonia avenues, where a Food 4 Less and Wendy's restaurant are planned for development on the northwest corner.