NORTH DALLAS - Dallas-based Colter's Restaurants Ltd. is about to go global, franchising its barbecue stores on U.S. military bases worldwide.

Colter's recently signed an international franchise agreement with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which is a U.S. military food service supplier, said Peter D. McGuire, vice president of the barbecue chain.

AAFES hasn't yet determined the number of Colter's stores that it will establish. But it's expected to operate at least a dozen sites at U.S. Army and Air Force bases worldwide, said Mitch Johnson, Colter's vice president of operations and the owner of two Fort Worth franchises. Colter's is hoping the military sites will increase its recognition outside Dallas-Fort Worth and pave the way for other franchise opportunities.

The 26-year-old company, which currently operates 18 Colter's Bar-B-Q restaurants in the Metroplex, is also in discussions to open up 10 more franchise stores in the United States this year, including in Allen and Las Colinas, McGuire said.

The company aims to have 30 stores in the Metroplex within five years.

The AAFES deal "will take us out of Dallas-Fort Worth, and turn our flavor on for a lot of people worldwide,"Johnson said. "We'd been gearing up for that kind of expansion for a couple of years, and then this opportunity just fell in our lap."

AAFES decided to franchise Colter's sites after an extensive, year-long test of regional barbecue restaurants, including Dallas-based Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants Inc., McGuire said.

It finally settled on the Colter's chain because of Colter's "consistent food quality"and "excellent operational performance,"said Bill Moore, a senior business programmer/planner for the 103-year-old military supplier.

"There is a lot of good barbecue out there, but Colter's was the only franchise that met all of our requirements,"Moore said. "They offered consistently good quality food, with value pricing and a diverse menu that satisfies our worldwide customer base."

AAFES currently operates more than 10,800 food facilities, mobile units, snack bars, fast-food franchises, concession operations, vending centers and theaters on U.S. military bases worldwide. Besides Colter's its name-brand franchises include Burger King, Taco Bell and Popeyes.

AAFES' first Colter's store will open in August at the Grafenwoehr Army Base in Germany. Grafenwoehr is a training center for NATO troops in Europe, with a population of between 20,000 and 40,000.

Additional Colter's sites are slated to open at other military bases in Texas, Washington, North Carolina and Okinawa, Japan, Moore said. Colter's will provide training for the AAFES staffers. McGuire said the company's experienced management team, stable infrastructure, national buying power and employee-friendly philosophy of "God, Family, Work"made it ready for the worldwide expansion. Colter's was founded in 1986 by his father, Peter G. McGuire, a 36-year restaurant veteran who was one of the first franchisees of Burger King and Churchs Chicken. McGuire had bought a barbecue restaurant in Dallas in 1981, but soon redesigned and relaunched it as Colter's Bar-B-Q.

Colter's is now one of the most successful barbecue chains in the Metroplex, with average sales of $1.5 million at individual freestanding sites and more than $550,000 at individual kiosks. Colter's Restaurants Ltd. reported 1998 revenue of more than $20 million.

Individual checks average just under $7 for platters of hickory-smoked ribs, sausage, chicken and beef brisket.

"Most of our stores have employees who have worked there for five to 15 years,"Johnson said. "We've had several general managers go from running a store to buying their own franchise operation - which is what I did."

Franchise fees for a Colter's restaurant range from $15,000 for a kiosk location to $30,000 for a freestanding store, Peter D. McGuire said. Total building costs average more than $150,000 for a kiosk and up to $350,000 for an endcap location in a shopping center, he said.

"Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the toughest restaurant markets in the U.S., and we've been here for almost 20 years,"Johnson said.

"We have a good niche at a good value that's right between full-service and fast food."

Colter's growth comes as other regional barbecue chains are also beginning to eye opportunities outside the Metroplex. Dickey's Barbecue, which currently operates 33 stores nationwide, has said it's on track to have 50 by 2000, with 200 more under development.

The Metroplex's other popular barbecue chains - Dallas-based Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse and Fort Worth based Riscky's Barbecue - have recently expanded their local chains to 12 and eight stores, respectively.

"Barbecue is no longer just a regional deal,"said Brad Stribling, managing partner of The Marketing Group, a Carrollton-based marketing consulting business that specializes in restaurants and entertainment. "Colter's has a stronger infrastructure than most of the local barbecue chains because it because it spends more time figuring out who it wants in its upper-management positions.

"Stribling also praised Colter's decision to jumpstart its expansion with the military contract.

"I'm surprised that more restaurants don't take that route,"Stribling said. "It's much smarter to go after a large buying group than putting deals together one store at a time."