Husband-wife duo operating ‘underground’ experience opening first brick-and-mortar restaurant

The husband-and-wife duo launched La Embajada Underground in 2014, but opening a brick-and-mortar location was always their original intention, Jorge Fabregat said.

“Right now, the Underground is kind of a selected group,” Fabregat said. “It’s (become known via) word of mouth and it’s a different ambiance with a single seating. This (new location) will allow us to do the same type of food, but access a wider audience.”

The restaurant will offer dine-in and carry-out service featuring Argentinean cuisine, “which, in turn, is highly influenced with by Spanish and Italian (cuisine),” he said.

Main dishes for which Argentina is known are its empanadas and for a variety of beef-centric creations, Fabregat said.

Once they saw that La Embajada Underground established a loyal following, the Fabregats knew it was time to open a sit-down restaurant. They selected the Miami Twp. location, which is inside the Spring Valley Shoppes, for its visibility and access to growing residential and workplace populations, Jorge Fabregat said.

In addition to the new restaurant, the Fabregats also will continue to offer private party Underground dinners and operate their food truck for community and private party events.

Fabregat said he and his wife hope to surprise the public when La Embajada Argentinean Cuisine opens in terms of not only the quality and variety of its food, but also the ambiance.

“We are trying to create something that is different from what everybody else does,” he said. “Remember, that is (what) the culture of the business has been since we opened as an underground restaurant. There’s always going to be a little bit of surprise.”

Embajada means “embassy.” “That’s we want to do is be an embassy of Argentina and bring something different than the regular Latin American restaurants bring,” Fabregat said.

Representing the landlord in the lease for the site was Danielle Kuehnle, of Oberer Realty Services, which is part of the network of independent operating companies that make up Oberer Companies.

Oberer has developed nine Kroger-anchored centers and has leased and sold millions of square feet of retail and office space in the Dayton and Cincinnati markets.

For more information, visit La Embajada Underground’s Facebook page.