Several eateries open and close in June
Several new Dayton-area restaurants opened and closed in June.
Reza’s Downtown recently opened its doors on Wayne Avenue in Dayton’s Oregon District, and is selling pastries from Azra’s Mediterranean Cuisine and ice cream from Columbus-based Jeni’s. Warped Wing, a Dayton favorite, announced plans for a second location in Springboro. And despite the devastating Memorial Day tornadoes, Sporty’s Carryout, a second location of Sporty’s Taphouse & Grill, was able to open on Siebenthaler Avenue.
Here’s a closer look at some of the Dayton-area restaurant highlights in June.
Opened
■ El Toro Bar & Grill The transformation from the former TGI Fridays is now complete, and El Toro Mexican Bar & Grill has opened its relocated restaurant fully to the public in the South Towne Center just east of the Dayton Mall.
El Toro closed its existing restaurant in the Shoppes at 725 at 2335 Miamisburg-Centerville Road across from the Dayton Mall shortly before opening at the former TGI Fridays restaurant at 2022 Miamisburg-Centerville Road.
■ Reza’s Roast
Reza’s Downtown, 438 Wayne Ave. in the Oregon District, is a new and independently owned shop that sells specialty coffee drinks, including lattes and espresso, as well as teas, chai, ice cream and pastries.
Audria Maki, founder of Reza’s Downtown, has partnered with Columbus-based specialty ice cream maker Jeni’s for the shop’s frozen treats, and with Dayton-based Azra’s Mediterranean Cuisine, which operates at the Second Street Market, for its pastries.
■ Sporty’s Carryout Sporty’s Taphouse & Grill has opened a carryout-only location at 3489 W. Siebenthaler Ave. in Dayton.
Sporty’s Taphouse & Grill — the sports bar and restaurant that operates in the space that formerly housed iconic restaurant The Barnsider and later, Liquid Sports Club — opened “Sporty’s Carryout” at 3489 W. Siebenthaler Ave. in Dayton.
The new location offers the full menu of Sporty’s Taphouse & Grill. It is a food-only carryout operation; no beer or other alcohol is available.
Coming soon
■ Ghostlight Coffee Ghostlight Coffee announced owner and founder Shane Anderson has signed a lease at 800 S. Patterson Blvd. The new shop will be in the same building that houses Old Scratch Pizza and across from RINSE Cycle.
The existing coffee house has offered freshbaked goods and treats made off-site by Ghostlight bakers, however the new midtown location will have much more room for an expansive food menu ranging from breakfast sandwiches and “from-scratch” bakery goods to toasts, tartines and salads inspired by international cafes.
■ Moeller Brew Barn Moeller Brew Barn is putting the finishing touches on its second location in Troy.
Moeller Brew Barn has operated a brewery and tasting room in Maria Stein, south of Celina in Mercer County, since 2015. Its second location is a 8,000-square-foot former-church-turned-brewery at 214 W. Main St. in downtown Troy.
A brick oven will provide shareable appetizers and pizzas, including a Brie, Pomegranate and Prosciutto pizza and a South Carolina Pizza topped with smoked brisket, pork belly and a mustard barbecue sauce.
Opening is planned for sometime in July.
■ Lee’s Ltd.
The new “Lee’s Ltd.” restaurant in the works near the University of Dayton will be the first Lee’s to offer beer if the restaurant franchisee’s beer-license application to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control is approved, according to Ken Riddle, co-franchise owner for Dayton-area Lee’s Famous Recipe chicken restaurants.
The new restaurant coming to the former Arby’s space, 1200 Brown Street near the University of Dayton, will be the first of its kind in the region for the Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken chain.
■ Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar
Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar is planning on opening a restaurant outside the Dayton Mall, according to the chain’s website.
A spokeswoman for a small but fast-growing chain of Cajun-style seafood restaurants has confirmed plans for a new restaurant adjacent to the Dayton Mall.
The new restaurant will be located in the former Sears Auto & Tire Center at 2564 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Miami Twp.
“At Hook & Reel, we make it our mission to give back to the veterans that serve our country. With Dayton being the home to the National Air Force Museum, we felt an instant bond to the values and culture of the city. We hope that our love of Cajun cuisine will be another thing we come to share in common.”
■ Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants
Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants has begun hiring for a projected 160 positions at its Cornerstone of Centerville restaurant that is scheduled to open in August.
Each Cooper’s Hawk location includes an upscale casual dining restaurant, full-service bar, private barrel-aging room, and Napa Valley-style tasting room and retail gift store. Founded in Orland Park, Ill., in 2005, Cooper’s Hawk now has more than two dozen locations nationwide.
■ Warped Wing Dayton-based Warped Wing will open a second brewery and tasting room to be called “Warped Wing Brewing Company Barrel Room & Smokery” in downtown Springboro.
The new brewery will be the first retail user for Mills Development’s “Wright Station” project at the intersection of Ohio 741 and Ohio 73. The 20,000-square-foot facility will include a large taproom with outdoor biergarten, barrel-aging space for more than 400 barrels, a taproom, an eatery, a “test-pilot” brewery, special-event space, as well as canning, packaging and distribution equipment, brewery and developer officials said in a release.
There will be a focus on smoked meat and smoked food items that in many cases will feature Warped Wing beers as ingredients.
The new Warped Wing Brewing Company Barrel Room & Smokery could open as early as the summer of 2020.
■ Singha Thai
Singha Thai restaurant is coming soon to this space in the Town & Country shopping center, according to plans filed with the city of Kettering.
A new restaurant is in the works at the Town & Country Shopping Center at Stroop Road and Far Hills Avenue in Kettering.
A spokeswoman for the city of Kettering said city officials are reviewing architectural plans for a new 1,934-square-foot restaurant to be called Singha Thai at 4123 East Town and Country Road.
■ Panera Bread Panera Bread and other chain restaurants have been turning more toward drive-thru windows to boost business.
The Washington Twp. Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of the Panera Bread project with a handful of relatively minor contingencies on Miamisburg-Centerville Road (Ohio 725) in Washington Twp.
The new Panera will be only about a mile-anda-half from an existing Panera down the street near the Dayton Mall in Miami Twp. and about two miles from the downtown Centerville Panera.
Closed
■ Rivertown Chili
A Miamisburg restaurant that opened a year ago is inviting customers to visit the breakfastand-lunch eatery for their last days of service on June 22-23.
Rivertown Chili at 105 S. Second St., posted the following: “To all of our followers: Our lease on the current location will be up at the end of the month,” the owners of Rivertown Chili wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “This is our last weekend for service. So all the regulars (and you know who you are), we look forward to the privilege of serving you one more time; for those who haven’t been in for a while, stop by and say hello/goodbye; for anyone that has never been in but wanted to give us a try ... last chance.”