Ono Hawaiian BBQ is preparing to open its first restaurant in Pinal County, filing detailed signage and drive-thru plans last week for a long-vacant retail pad in Maricopa.

According to documents submitted to the city’s development services June 24, the Diamond Bar, Calif.-based chain plans to occupy a 4,300-square-foot suite at 20320 N. John Wayne Parkway, Suite 130, in the Sonoran Creek Marketplace. The site was previously approved for a Filiberto’s Mexican Food restaurant, but it was never built. After five years of delays and an expired permit, Filiberto’s instead launched a food truck last month on a nearby lot.

Ono’s proposal includes a full signage package: two large LED-illuminated wall signs featuring the brand’s teal-and-bronze logo, an under-canopy “Aloha” sign, drive-thru menu boards and a reface of the monument sign at the shopping center entrance. The site plan shows a new dedicated drive-thru lane wrapping the building, which also houses a Jimmy John’s, a Crumbl and a MOD Pizza.

This morning, the construction crew let reporters step inside. The future Hawaiian spot is quickly taking shape with metal framing up, ductwork snaking overhead and a gleaming stainless steel kitchen hood already in place. At 10:45 a.m., the crew was getting ready to punch in the wall for the drive-thru bay.

This will mark Ono Hawaiian BBQ’s first location in Pinal County and its 16th in Arizona. The company currently operates 15 restaurants statewide and is planning another new store in Queen Creek at Ellsworth and Queen Creek Roads (on the Maricopa County side).

Ono specializes in Hawaiian-style comfort food including grilled chicken, Spam musubi, noodles and seafood plates. The chain operates more than 100 locations across Southern California and metro Phoenix.

No official opening date for the Maricopa location has been announced.