THIRST FIRST
Saucy opens brewpub, coffeehouse in Harrison West
Saucy Brew Works has brought its beer – and coffee – to Columbus.
The Cleveland-based craft brewer has opened its first brewpub and coffeehouse in Columbus at 443 W. 3rd Ave. in Harrison West.
It is meant to be a comfortable, neighborhood bar where people can hang out. The 190-seat space has indoor and outdoor seating along with a small brewery, and space where customers can stay distant from each other during the coronavirus.
“Harrison West felt like our neighborhood in Ohio City (in Cleveland where Saucy has a brewpub). We looked at 50-plus properties and just fell in love with that one,” said Brent Zimmerman, the company’s CEO and co-founder.
The expansion to Columbus has been in the works since Zimmerman started Saucy with Eric Anderson, cofounder and chief brewing officer, in 2017.
“It was always planned since day one. It was just a matter of timing. ... I love Columbus. We love neighborhoods,” he said.
Another location in Detroit is slotted to open in December.
The menu includes salads, sandwiches and wings, along with monthly specials.
The house specialty, though, is a thin-crust pizza patterned after the “apizza” style popular in New Haven, Connecticut. Saucy sent a chef to New Haven to try pizza at multiple restaurants to come up with the pizza sold in the brewpubs, Zimmerman said.
At its two brewpubs in the Cleveland area, sales between beer and food are split about in half.
The Columbus location will feature at least 20 types of Saucy beers, including IPAS, classic-style Kolsch and Saucy’s popular Christmas ales. Then there’s coffee.
It’s a tiny but growing part of Saucy’s business, something Zimmerman views as kind of a startup that allows Saucy to extend its hours of operation at the location in Columbus into the morning.
“It’s crazy. We taste-tested 50-plus different coffees to get the roast we wanted,” he said.
Saucy’s offers a house roast, a dark roast and coffee drinks, he said.
The growing company also is giving customers and others a chance to buy a stake in the company.
The company has launched a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of using the money to finance expansion and
purchase new equipment, among other expenses, Zimmerman said.
Jeni’s, Land Grant
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and Land Grant Brewing Co. are switching things up this year.
The companies collaborated on summer product releases in 2018 and 2019, with Land Grant releasing a strawberry beer for Jeni’s annual Strawberry Jam festival.
“It’s a small, really fun festival,” said Jeni’s founder Jeni Britton Bauer.
The gathering was canceled this year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
So instead, Land Grant is brewing a more fall-appropriate beer with the Bramble Jamble, a brew based on Jeni’s Brambleberry Crisp, one of the ice cream maker’s most popular flavors.
Ray Ray’s gets new CEO, to open first restaurant
Ray Ray’s Hog Pit is getting a new CEO and has announced plans for its first brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Bill Glover, most recently the executive chef at Hilton Columbus Downtown, has joined Ray Ray’s as chief executive.
Ray Ray’s has acquired a former restaurant at 1256 Columbus Road in Granville that will feature Ray Ray’s smoked meats when it opens next year.
The location will have indoor seating, carryout and drive-thru options and will include products from nearby Anderson Farms where James Anderson, the owner-founder of Ray Ray’s and Anderson Farms, raises pigs.
The restaurant joins Ray Ray’s food truck regular locations in Clintonville at Ace of Cups, Westerville at 5755 Maxtown Road, Land Grant Brewing in Franklinton and Nocterra Brewing in Powell.
Kroger, Clustertruck strike kitchen partnership
Kroger and Clustertruck, a technology startup that operates delivery-only restaurants, have struck a partnership to start kitchens at two Kroger stores, including one in Dublin at 7625 Sawmill Road.
The new concept will repurpose approximately 1,000 square feet at each participating store to create a space for Clustertruck staff to prepare meals for quick delivery and in-store pickup. Customers can order from a menu of more than 80 meals.
Clustertruck’s approach to meal delivery allows the company to ensure orders are delivered to the customer within just seven minutes of preparation – and on average, less than 30 minutes of ordering.
The first kitchen in a store in Indianapolis is open. The one in Dublin will open later this year.
Jeff Ruby’s delivers
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse, the highend Downtown restaurant, is now delivering.
The full food and wine menu, except oysters and ice cream, is available for order and delivery.
Orders can made at Jeffruby.com at the takeout and delivery link. Curbside pickup or cook-at-home meal kits as well as standard takeout service will continue to be available.
New Crimson Cup store
Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea has opened its new retail flagship at 4066 Worth Ave. in the Urban District at Easton Town Center.
The store will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Pizza Cottage expansion
Lancaster-based Pizza Cottage will open a new location in Powell in December. The new store will be in a former Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at 8753 Owenfield Drive.
This will be seventh Pizza Cottage location and the first one north of Columbus. Jack and Yvonne Gorham founded Pizza Cottage in Carroll in Fairfield County in 1972.
Larry Tipton bought the company in 2017. He also owns 10 Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar locations in Ohio and Arizona.
Dispatch Reporter Patrick Cooley contributed to this report. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams