Restaurant says it’s working to reopen
Late last week, the Primanti Bros. restaurant along North Fairfield Drive in Beavercreek stood in contrast to some of its other tornado-damaged neighbors, where workers are busy repairing the destruction from the Dayton area’s Memorial Day tornado outbreak two months ago.
At a former Abuelo’s Mexican restaurant next door to Primanti Bros., workers on temporary scaffolding were busy repairing extensive exterior damage to the structure that will soon become a new location for El Toro Bar & Grill. Behind and across a parking lot from those restaurants, several workers were repairing portions of the parking lot of Hobby Lobby, which remains closed.
Despite the lack of visible progress, a spokesman for Primanti Bros. said this week the company is working toward reopening, although there is no projected timeline yet.
“The tornado damage was more significant than we expected,” restaurant spokesman Ryan Wilkinson told this news outlet.
“We are continuing to work with our insurance companies and contractors to determine a timeline to safely open the building for our fans.”
The day after the storms, Wilkinson said the restaurant suffered some roof and exterior damage, but no structural damage. That assessment worsened after closer examination of the building, he said. “We’re working to get it open as soon as we can,” the Primanti Bros. spokesman said at the time.
Beavercreek and Greene County officials say they have not seen any repair activity at the site. An initial Greene County tornado-damage assessment says the damage to Primanti Bros. included broken windows, a damaged rooftop air-handling unit, missing and damaged roofing, and damaged siding.
No one was injured in or around the restaurant when the Memorial Day tornado struck.
Primanti Bros. opened in April 2016 at 2430 N. Fairfield Road. The Beavercreek restaurant is the first in southwest Ohio for the Pittsburgh-based chain, which operates locations in northeast Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan and West Virginia.