After three years of fielding interest from wannabe franchisees, Chippewa StreetPs dessert- themed bar and restaurant The Chocolate Bar is headed for Cleveland.

"The Cleveland people just kind of fell out of the sky," said William Panzica, Chocolate Bar owner and director of franchise development.

Guests staying in the Hampton Inn, which houses the restaurant, had been expressing interest in franchising since it opened in 2006, Panzica said. So he and his wife, Carolyn, registered the Chocolate Bar as a franchise. They did that Aug. 21 and landed the Cleveland franchise the same day.

Franchisees pay a $35,000 franchise fee plus an additional 4 percent in sales and 1 percent for advertising. The Cleveland franchise was bought by three partners consisting of the married owners of a medical transcription company and the owner of office equipment company Cleveland Business Supply.

Scheduled to open in November, the Chocolate BarPs first franchise will fill 5,000 square feet in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in ClevelandPs bustling Gateway District at Euclid and Fourth streets. Four more locations are in the works for Florida, Indiana, Pittsburgh and Toronto, but have hit financing snags as banks clamp down on lending.

Panzica, former owner of Butterwood Desserts, worked with Noco Energy Corp. subsidiary Franchise Development & Marketing Group to develop the franchise. That company is also currently working to franchise Grand IslandPs Comic Book Cafe and AmherstPs Pizza Plant Italian Pub. The company also handles upstate franchising for Chocolate Bar neighbor SalsaritaPs Fresh Cantina and is working on bringing TorontoPs Teriyaki Experience to the area.

Noco got into the franchising game after working to lease space to other brands inside its convenience stores and decided to move on to a national scale.

"Buffalo has some great local brands, and we didnPt know why they werenPt going to the next level," said Andy Klie, general manager for Franchise Development & Marketing Group. "We figured we could help them do better than what we were seeing."