RUSTY BUCKET RESTAURANT AND TAVERN
What: Columbus-based restaurant chain will full menu and bar. "A fun, fast, friendly neighborhood tavern"
When: The next Cincinnati-area location opens at Liberty Center in October 2015
Where: Liberty Center is the $350 million development under construction in Liberty Twp. at the intersection of Interstate 75, Ohio 129 and Liberty Way
Website: www.myrustybucket.com
Employees: Each store employs about 80-100 full- and part-time workers
3 QUESTIONS WITH RUSTY BUCKET PRESIDENT
Gary Callicoat, president of Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern, answered the following questions about the restaurant chain, which opens October 2015 in Butler County.
1. What sets you apart from other concepts?
A: "We really try to entrench ourselves in the community."
“The amount of fresh product we do is amazing. If you’re looking at a casual restaurant, I think that’s what sets us apart. We’re about 95 percent fresh. Our food is made from raw product — it doesn’t come out of a can. It’s not frozen. We really are a chef-driven casual concept.”
2. What would you recommend on the menu?
A: He recommended the fish and chips, Rusty Bucket's hand-pattied burger, and the Asian tuna wrap with seared ahi tuna and vegetable mix.
“Our pizza is amazing.” Dough is made fresh daily, and is hand tossed.
3. What do people need to know to apply for jobs?
A: "We started targeting and doing our hiring with the target market on Facebook."
“The competition’s going to be stiff for people,” with the other Liberty Center tenants.
“We try to find great people. Our culture’s very important to us.”
More information can be found about job opportunities online at myrustybucket.com/careers
SPECIAL SERIES
This is the first story in a three-part series featuring restaurants set to open fall 2015 at Liberty Center in Butler County’s Liberty Twp.
Coming Monday: Pies & Pints is not your average pizza joint
Coming Tuesday: FlipSide's gourmet burgers feature a side of homemade sauces
ONLINE ONLY
Get all the news about Liberty Center in one place, with photos and videos online only at: www.journal-news.com/data/news/liberty-center-project/
There, you’ll find video from our interview with Gary Callicoat, president, Rusty Bucket
3 QUESTIONS WITH RUSTY BUCKET PRESIDENT
Gary Callicoat, president of Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern, answered the following questions about the restaurant chain, which opens October 2015 in Butler County.
1. What sets you apart from other concepts?
A: "We really try to entrench ourselves in the community."
“The amount of fresh product we do is amazing. If you’re looking at a casual restaurant, I think that’s what sets us apart. We’re about 95 percent fresh. Our food is made from raw product — it doesn’t come out of a can. It’s not frozen. We really are a chef-driven casual concept.”
2. What would you recommend on the menu?
A: He recommended the fish and chips, Rusty Bucket's hand-pattied burger, and the Asian tuna wrap with seared ahi tuna and vegetable mix.
“Our pizza is amazing.” Dough is made fresh daily, and is hand tossed.
3. What do people need to know to apply for jobs?
A: "We started targeting and doing our hiring with the target market on Facebook."
“The competition’s going to be stiff for people,” with the other Liberty Center tenants.
“We try to find great people. Our culture’s very important to us.”
More information can be found about job opportunities online at myrustybucket.com/careers
SPECIAL SERIES
This is the first story in a three-part series featuring restaurants set to open fall 2015 at Liberty Center in Butler County’s Liberty Twp.
Coming Monday: Pies & Pints is not your average pizza joint
Coming Tuesday: Flip Side's gourmet burgers feature a side of homemade sauces
ONLINE ONLY
Get all the news about Liberty Center in one place, with photos and videos online only at: www.journal-news.com/data/news/liberty-center-project/
There, you’ll find video from our interview with Gary Callicoat, president, Rusty Bucket
When Rusty Bucket expands in the Cincinnati market by opening a new restaurant at the Liberty Center development, it won’t be an all-new taste to locals, but owners hope it’ll become a community favorite.
The Columbus-based chain has a Rookwood Pavilion location, and opened a little over a year ago a site in Deerfield Twp.
Later this year, Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern will join the dozen or so eateries on the tenant lineup at the $350 million Liberty Center complex when it opens in October. Rusty Bucket will be located near the movie theater, said President Gary Callicoat.
“We are a fun, fast, friendly neighborhood tavern,” Callicoat said. “We really try to entrench ourselves in the community whether that’s through youth athletics or supporting your local chamber.”
The sit-down casual restaurant offers British pub favorites such as deep fried pickles and fish and chips; American bar food such as chicken wings; and artisan pizza. Featured at the bar is a cocktail program with daily drink specials.
“The amount of fresh product we do is amazing. If you’re looking at a casual restaurant, I think that’s what sets us apart. We’re about 95 percent fresh,” Callicoat told the Journal-News during a one-on-one interview at the nearby Deerfield Twp. restaurant.
“Our food is made from raw product — it doesn’t come out of a can. It’s not frozen. We really are a chef-driven casual concept,” Callicoat said.
New diners to Rusty Bucket will want to try the fish and chips, hand-pattied burger, or the Asian tuna wrap, Callicoat recommended. And the pizza is layered on hand-tossed dough made fresh daily, he said.
Rusty Bucket, founded in 2002, is in growth mode. Plans were announced in February to open five new locations this year including the one in Liberty Twp. Rusty Bucket will enter the North Carolina market in 2015, and enter Colorado through Denver next year.
Currently, there are 17 sites in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Florida, Callicoat said.
Already, Rusty Bucket has an Easton Town Center location in the Columbus area, which was developed by the same company, Steiner + Associates, now building out Liberty Center.
Due to Liberty Center’s location between Cincinnati and Dayton, the expansion growing the two markets together, and other growing Liberty Twp. businesses like Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Liberty Campus, Callicoat said, “I think it’s a great place to be, so it was an easy choice for us.”
“I’m looking forward to another project like Easton because it’s really pedestrian friendly. Summertime is a great time. It’ll draw certainly I think from more than just the Cincinnati area,” he said.
Liberty Center is the name of the mixed-use mega complex being built in Butler County's Liberty Twp. near the intersection of Interstate 75, Ohio 129 and Liberty Way. Construction first started last year. Three anchor tenants — Dillard's department store, dinner-and-movie theater CineBistro and Dick's Sporting Goods — have been announced along with AC Hotels by Marriott.
Estimates are for Liberty Center’s retailers, restaurants and other businesses to create approximately 3,500 new jobs in Butler County by 2018, according to Liberty Twp. Economic Development Director Caroline McKinney.
Previously announced restaurants to date include Brio Tuscan Grille, Cheesecake Factory, Kona Grill, Pie & Pints and Flip Side.
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