The conga line dance is rehearsed and the tequila is well stocked, so watch for the opening of a big new Waikiki bar and restaurant from Mexico known for its "anything goes" party atmosphere.

Mexico's largest restaurant company, Grupo Anderson's, plans to open its irreverent Señor Frog's at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center at 11 a.m. Saturday.

But the establishment with 520 seats and three bars — including one where swings substitute for chairs — is toning down the wild activities for which the chain is known, mostly through its flagship Cancun location.

Company officials said the Waikiki Señor Frog's will be more family oriented. Nixed from the typical Señor Frog's lineup are bikini contests, pouring liquor from the bottle into open mouths and more risque events.

That doesn't mean the company is totally holding back its fun quotient. During lunch, dinner and wee morning hours, there will be songs and dances led by a master of ceremonies, along with occasional contests involving banana eating or soda drinking and other less raucous entertainment.

"It is a party atmosphere," said Tona Risso, Señor Frog's general manager. "We're not a nightclub, but we are a big bar. We turn up the volume and turn the lights down, and the party gets a little more wild."

Maybe a little, but not as wild as David Pang's two experiences several years ago during spring break visits to Señor Frog's in Cancun and Mazatlan.

"Neither one had any inkling of being family-oriented," said Pang, the now 37-year-old owner of The Pet Spot who recalled Señor Frog's contests involving nudity. "They know how to put on a party."

Local resident Wanda Parker, 33, said details are somewhat fuzzy from her Cancun Señor Frog's visit a dozen years ago, though she remembers having outrageous fun and watching bar patrons exit via a water slide into an outdoor lagoon.

"Everyone was dancing on the tables," she said. "It was unreal."

MORE AHEAD FOR MALL

Señor Frog's will be the first large anchor tenant to open as part of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center's two-year, $84 million renovation that is adding a new look and many new retailers and restaurants to Waikiki's largest mall.

General construction work won't be finished until around the end of the year, while tenants such as the planned Roy Tokujo theatrical production and nightclub Waikiki Nei won't open until next summer.

Today, about 50 of the mall's eventual 110 tenants are open, representing mainly existing tenants or ones that relocated or expanded, as well as a handful of new stores, including Walking Co., Borders Express, Shining Star, L'Occitane and Baskin-Robbins.

Other anchors to open over the next year include a flagship Hilo Hattie, P.F. Chang's China Bistro and an Apple store.

Señor Frog's initially expected to open in May 2006, but delays involving city permitting, construction and planning by mall owner Kamehameha Schools pushed back the timetable more than a year.

"It was out of our hands," Risso said. "We've been waiting for this for a year. Now we're really excited."

The Hawai'i Señor Frog's is part of a strategy by Grupo Anderson's to enter high-volume tourist-based markets in the United States with an expectation to dramatically boost average restaurant sales.

A typical Grupo Anderson's restaurant has annual revenue of $5 million; the Cancun Señor Frog's generates the most at about $11 million.

The Hawai'i restaurant, which cost about $8 million to build and is the biggest at 14,000 square feet, is projected to take in $15 million a year.

"We see this location as No. 1 in sales in the group," Risso said.

MEXICAN WITH A TWIST

Grupo Anderson's was established in 1963 and operates 68 restaurants under several brands, including El Shrimp Bucket, Carlos 'n Charlie's, Squid Roe and Mamá Roma. There are 14 Señor Frog's — the company's flagship brand — mostly in Mexico and the Caribbean.

The company's first U.S. restaurant was a Señor Frog's that opened two years ago in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Hawai'i will be the second U.S. Señor Frogs, while a third is planned for Las Vegas next year.

The Waikiki site will open for lunch at 11 a.m. and serve dinner until midnight. The menu is a mix of international food with some authentic Mexican dishes and a handful of items with a Mexico-Hawai'i twist.

Risso said a family atmosphere will be maintained into the evening, with songs and dances suitable for children. Around 10:30 p.m. the place will become more a party scene with a $3 to $5 cover charge that gets each patron a 22-ounce plastic souvenir "yard glass" for drinks. Closing time is 4 a.m.

The restaurant is on the mall's third level at the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Lewers Street. A ground-floor store will sell Señor Frog's merchandise.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.