Grantsville’s newest restaurant might have an eccentric name but its cuisine is all American.

Zoolander’s, which is being launched by local entrepreneur and Dolorosa Estancia developer Josh Henwood, is located in the building that once housed Gezal’s on Main Street in Grantsville. The restaurant opened Jan. 24.

“We wanted a more American food establishment in Grantsville,” said Henwood, who also financed Grantsville’s Taco Man restaurant, which opened on Main Street last August. “Applebee’s is American food, but with a twist. We are strictly American food.”

The idea for the restaurant originally came from Henwood’s wife Susan.

“She said that she was tired of driving to Salt Lake for good food,” Henwood said. “So we opened a place where you can come for business meetings for lunch, and then come back for a nice dinner that night.”

The menu includes breakfast items like omelets, eggs Benedict, biscuits and gravy, breakfast burritos, pancakes and crepes, as well as lunch and dinner fare like hamburgers, fried shrimp, chicken fingers, fish and chips, chicken fried steak, grilled salmon, salads, soups, and sandwiches.

One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is steak, with multiple cuts on offer.

“That’s what’s different about us,” Henwood said. “We have a variety. You can get New York steak, rib eye steak, T-bone steak, or filet mignon. We want our quality of service and food to be immaculate. We are hiring chefs, not cooks.”

Frank Ford is the restaurant’s executive chef. He graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school 33 years ago, and specializes in French, Italian, and American cuisine. He worked in Las Vegas at fine-dining restaurants within Circus Circus, the Excalibur, and the Venetian.

“I got a job with the Department of Defense and went to Afghanistan for two years where I cooked for the soldiers,” Ford said. “While I was gone, my wife moved to Herriman to be with family. When I came back, I was planning on going back to Las Vegas, but she told me that she wanted to stay here. I told her that I needed a job that we could live off of. I saw the ad in the paper and the Lord put it in my heart to talk to the owner [Henwood].”

Henwood has plans to turn Zoolander’s into a chain, with another location to be built in Sandy where he owns land.

The different restaurants will feature decor honoring local high schools. For example, the Grantsville restaurant has red and black walls, and Henwood is looking for Grantsville High School memorabilia to decorate the interior.

“We’re looking for cool, old stuff that people have from way back when Grantsville High School started,” Henwood said.

Henwood said he chose the name of the restaurant not because he liked the 2001 film starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, but because the word appealed to him.

“It seemed perfect,” Henwood said. “We had so many people asking if it was named after the movie, but we just liked the word.”

Currently, the restaurant has eight tables/booths and a bar, but will soon be able to seat 82 people. Henwood said renovations of the restaurant, included painting, new flooring, and installing a bar, cost about $10,000.

Zoolander’s is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.