RESTAURANT NAME CHANGE
Centerville eatery to rebrand as Root 48.
The owner of Twisted Root Restaurant & Bar in Centerville — who is being forced to change the restaurant’s name after receiving a “cease-and-desist” letter from a Texas burger chain with a similar name — will launch a new, less formal concept next week under the new name “Root 48.”
The restaurant at 79 S. Main St. (Ohio 48) will remain Twisted Root during this week’s Restaurant Week promotion, according to co-owner and executive chef Keith Taylor. But the eatery will likely close early Discover up and coming restaurants in your neighborhood at MyDaytonDailyNews.com/dining. next week for a day or two — Tuesday, Feb. 4, and possibly the following day as well — for renovations to accommodate the name change, Taylor said.
Root 48 will have five flatscreen televisions and more of a sports-bar feel, although one with high-quality food and a wide array of craft beers, Taylor said. The restaurant will make all of its own sauces for chicken wings, offer “build-your-own” burgers and add a fried bologna sandwich to the menu.
The new name borrows from the state route on which the restaurant is located while retaining a wink and a nod to the previous name.
Taylor and the restaurant had an eventful 2013. In March, a collision in front of what was then Savona Restaurant and Wine Bar sent a car careening through a side wall of the restaurant, and it took three months to reopen with the new Twisted Root name.
But late in the year, Taylor received a cease-and-desist letter from the Twisted Root Burger Co. — which operates nine burger restaurants in Texas and one in Shreveport, Louisiana — demanding that he change the name or face a potential lawsuit — even though the burger chain’s closest restaurant to Dayton was nearly 900 miles away. The burger chain’s CEO said he had to protect his trademark and was considering expansion in Ohio and elsewhere in the country.
After it opens next week as Root 48, the restaurant-bar will be open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Taylor hopes to add Sunday hours after obtaining a license to sell alcohol on Sunday.