Even though the economy is putting the squeeze on many businesses, the Northridge Restaurant is bucking the trend and extending its reach in Nevada County.

The company recently opened its third restaurant in the Red Wagon building at Lake of the Pines. Northridge restaurants also are in Penn Valley and Nevada City, which is where it all started in 2001 when co-owners Mony Monir and Dave Freeman bought the building on Nevada Street.

The new restaurant has some of the same qualities that makes the other restaurants popular while having unique features of its own, according to management.

"The restaurants in Penn Valley and Nevada City are very comfortable pizza, burger and beer places," said Frank Sweeney, who is the chef and kitchen manager at the new establishment. "The Lake of the Pines location is more of a sit-down dining atmosphere."

Sweeney said the LOP location is the first full-service restaurant in the south county, adding that three meals a day are served there, instead of the two at Nevada City and Penn Valley.

The dinner menu in LOP has different options as well, including appetizers such as calamari, crab cakes and tropical chicken strips. The entrees include lamb chops, filet mignon and prawns scampi style as well as the gourmet pizzas and draft root beer offered at the other restaurants.

Northridge General Manager Crystal Dossman said the company decided to move to the south county after the popular Red Wagon restaurant closed in May 2006. From day one, she said, the residents welcomed their new neighbor.

"It was the location that really appealed to us initially," she said. "And then the people were very inviting from the day we started working on the restaurant."

Now, the company has 21 employees working at the new restaurant.

Sweeney, who has 30 years of experience as a chef, baker and instructor in the culinary arts, was working as a cake decorator in Grass Valley when he read the Northridge was expanding to LOP.

The 57-year-old then decided to check out the Nevada City restaurant and was quickly sold on the company.

"It was just a feeling I got from the service staff," he said of his visit. "So I went home and wrote them a letter and said 'I would like to come to work with you and run the kitchen.'"

Sweeney is a 1978 graduate of the California Culinary Institute and has worked in restaurants in San Francisco, Hawaii and Nevada County, including a stint as the dinner cook at the old Coach House Restaurant in Nevada City.

Justin Larson, the assistant chef at LOP, and Sweeney work together to create new recipes as they continually try to diversify and fine-tune the menu.

"We'll take a conventional theme and make it unique," said Sweeney, adding that the restaurant had three rehearsal dinners before it opened for business on Dec. 26.

The family-style restaurant has a comfortable feel with a mixture of booths and tables that are nicely spaced. The building has been renovated and expanded, creating room for a full-service bar with three 52-inch, flat-screen televisions that featured sports programming on Sunday. Overall, the restaurant has approximately 2,400 square feet of dining space.

The new restaurant will continue the company's philosophy of giving back to the community, Dossman said. It recently held a fund-raiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. On June 6, it will close the restaurant in the morning to host the annual Bear River High School graduation breakfast, where approximately 260 students will enjoy a buffet-style meal for $7 apiece.

Then on June 21, the LOP Northridge will have its official grand opening and offer 20 percent discount for food purchases.

Monir, who is a native of Turkey and has owned restaurants in Houston, said his move in 2000 to Nevada County and subsequent decision to buy the Northridge building in Nevada City has proved to be a wise move.

"I've worked in lots of restaurants and here we have very laid-back customers," he said. "These are the best customers I've seen in my life."

To contact Staff Writer Pat Butler, e-mail pbutler@theunion.com or call 477-4239.