Hardees is officially back in Austin.

Hardees opened at 1406 Fourth St. NW at 5:30 this morning. Then surrounded by Austin Area Chamber of Commerce and Hardees leaders, Jerry Downing cut the ribbon to celebrate the new store.

“I am excited,” Downing said. “I couldn’t wait.”

Downing worked for Hardees for more than 32 years — more than 23 of them in Austin — and he was excited to see the chain come back, though he is retired and won’t be working at the restaurant.

Austin used to have two Hardees locations owned by a different franchise group, but those closed in 2004 and 2008. The new store is the 113th store for Northland Restaurant Group, based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

After supporting two locations for many years, Merle Cwiak, a vice president for Northland, said he was confident Austin would be a good location for one new restaurant.

“We’re glad to be back here,” he said.

He called Austin a vibrant community that fit in well with the company’s plans for expansion. He was also pleased with the restaurant’s location along Interstate 90.

Northland already has plans to open an Owatonna location in December and Rochester locations in 2016 and 2017.

Northland has about 20 Minnesota restaurants with the closest currently being in Albert Lea and Faribault.

General Manager Meghan Wieber will lead a team of about 71 employees, about half of which are full time.

Hardees will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, and 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.