One of the nation's fastest-growing restaurant chains, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, is scheduled to open its second Hawai'i restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in early 2007.

The restaurant will be the company's second-largest, with more than 11,000 square feet of space and seating for up to 375 diners.

P.F. Chang's said it will employ about 250 people at its Royal Hawaiian location, which will occupy two floors at the end of the mall on Kalakaua Avenue and Lewers Street.

The addition of P.F. Chang's is part of mall owner Kamehameha Schools' $84 million renovation of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.

"One of the primary revitalization objectives that we had for the center was to be famous for food, with a special emphasis on offering choices that appeal to both kama'aina and visitors," said Susan Todani, director of development and planning for Kamehameha Schools.

The new restaurant is one of three Hawai'i locations planned by the company. The first is under construction at the street level of the Hokua luxury residential high-rise near Victoria Ward Centers in Kaka'ako. The 282-seat, 7,500-square-foot restaurant is scheduled to open in September. The company plans to open a third location in Kona on the Big Island.

Established in 1993, Phoenix-based P.F. Chang's operates 130 restaurants nationwide. The company describes its food as traditional Chinese cuisine and innovative dishes influenced by Southeast Asia, prepared with Mandarin-style wok cooking.

Typically, P.F. Chang's owns its restaurants, but in Hawai'i, the company has partnered with Café Hawaii, an affiliate of local real-estate development firm The MacNaughton Group.

The MacNaughton Group, through a joint-venture, developed the Hokua apartment complex, and through another partnership operates Starbucks and Jamba Juice. The development firm also helped develop Waikele Center and Maui Marketplace, and plans to build a regional mall in Kapolei.