Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsOlive Garden construction was delayed Thursday due to rain.

They’ve been popping up recently, and now more eateries are on the horizon.

While some local restaurant owners struggle in a tough economy, others are opening their doors in Bowling Green.

Olive Garden is planned to open April 12 at the corner of Scottsville Road and Ken Bale Boulevard next to Outback Steakhouse. Restaurant officials will hire about 165 workers and will begin taking applications at the restaurant on March 17. The hiring process will last two weeks, said Erin Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Olive Garden.

The $1.25 million, 7,440-square-foot restaurant is under construction. Olive Garden once operated at 2450 Scottsville Road before its parent company, Florida-based Darden Restaurants, closed it in 2001 and converted the building into a Smokey Bones restaurant.

Across town, a local martial arts studio owner has opened his eatery. Cafe Vioni opened Jan. 15 on Fitzgerald Industrial Drive next to Great Escape Theater.

The cafe, which serves beverages, ice cream, milk shakes and pastries, sits in a 9,500-square-foot building that also houses a martial arts studio and has three spaces available, owner Lyung Kim said.

Kim wanted to open a business that caters to college students. Kim allows local artists to hang their work in the cafe and books local musicians to play on the weekends.

Last Saturday, about 130 customers packed the cafe to hear a local band. The location “is really good,” Kim said. “Everybody’s coming in from the theater.”

On Nashville Road next to the Carroll Knicely Conference Center, Ahn Nguyen opened her restaurant, Manpuku Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, on Friday. The 3,700-square-foot restaurant employs about 12 people and might soon hire more.

Nguyen initially wanted to open her restaurant at the intersection of Nashville Road and Campbell Lane – which has become a hub for new restaurants – but could not find the right spot. When she discovered the space next to WKU’s south campus, she was impressed by the number of students that would drive by her restaurant.

Nguyen and her partner operate two other restaurants, one in Atlanta and one in Chicago, and both have been affected by the recession. When looking to open a third restaurant, Nguyen targeted Bowling Green because the local economy seems to fare better than the big cities, she said.

Still, some existing restaurants are trying to survive a bad economy and have made changes to improve business.

Business has been unstable for the past six months at Albany Steakhouse on Campbell Lane, manager Sovanny Sun said.

“Some days are OK and some are kind of slow,” she said. “Overall, it’s not too good … we just prefer to break even.”

Sun said she hopes that, as the economy improves, business will pick up in the next few months.

Sales were down this past year at Judy’s Castle on the U.S. 31-W By-Pass, which prompted owner Paul Durbin to make a change.

For the first time since it opened in 1968, the restaurant will be smoke-free starting Feb. 1.

“It’ll make some people mad,” Durbin said. “We’ve been here 15 years, and they can’t believe we’re doing it.”

Still, Durbin said he believes a nonsmoking environment will boost business. Most customers say they favor the smoking ban, he said.

“Some people come in not as regularly as they used to, and it’s because of the smoke,” he said. “You just smell the smoke on your clothes all day.”

While he declined to release figures, Durbin said business slowed due to a bad economy. Higher gas prices and less income have forced people to eat at home more often.

Durbin has not increased prices or made other changes to offset poor sales – he’s optimistic the economy will recover and business will improve, he said.

“It has to make an adjustment,” he said. “Hopefully, you feel like it’s going to adjust back up.”