Some Dallas-area companies are playing leapfrog – jumping to suburbs or exurbs to open their next locations.

This fall, Eatzi's Market & Bakery will take its Euro sandwiches and Kobe meatloaf to Plano, and Addison-based Nate's Seafood & Steakhouse and Dallas-based Village Burger Bar will open in Allen.

For small businesses, expanding is a major decision, especially in an uncertain economy. The question of location often comes down to timing and growth trends.

Malls and shopping centers seek more restaurants – more locally owned businesses and a wider variety of food offerings – to generate traffic. Developers are selling the suburbs based on regional growth and an urban feel at new mixed-use and lifestyle centers.

"As the market grows, that urban-suburban line moves further out," said David Palmer, head of development for Dallas-based Cencor Realty Services. "Even with record energy prices, that's only going to make it more important for retailers and restaurants to gather near major thoroughfares in proximity to consumers."

It's all about demographics – places with more density, higher incomes and other services such as hotels and hospitals that provide traffic.

Cencor's West Plano Village, a 15-acre development at Parker Road and the Dallas North Tollway set to open in 2010, will draw from 90,000 people in a three-mile radius with average household incomes close to $120,000, Mr. Palmer said.

Such numbers attracted Joe Palladino, co-owner of Coal Vines bistro. He opened the first Coal Vines in Uptown in 2006, a second one at Shops of Southlake and plans a third at West Plano Village.

Mr. Palladino still has reservations about the suburbs. He decided against Allen because he thought it was too far away and wouldn't generate sufficient weekday sales.

"Southlake is a little bit of a test-tube baby," Mr. Palladino said. Before opening there, he did some research, going to the movies, eating out and just hanging around like a local. He learned that it's family-oriented and draws people from neighboring towns but doesn't stay busy late at night.

Collin County is getting attention. It's one of the wealthiest counties statewide and one of the fastest-growing nationwide.

When husband-and-wife owners Mike and Susan Matta decided to open a second location of their 2-year-old Village Burger Bar in Dallas, they looked at several sites north of Dallas before settling on Watters Creek at Montgomery Farm in Allen. The restaurant will open this fall.

"We looked at Watters Creek and what [developer] Trademark built in Houston and its reputation," Mr. Matta said. "They tout the underserved portion of the Allen area, and that was appealing."

Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co. pitches Watters Creek, with apartments, offices and a hotel, as an urban setting in the suburbs.

"People had to travel all the way to Plano or the Dallas urban core," said Edward Manuel, leasing agent for Watters Creek. "We tried to focus on restaurants that could bring the urban core here." [an error occurred while processing this directive]