Healthy restaurant chain enters SW Ohio market, eyes Dayton area

What to Know
By Mark Fisher
Sept 7, 2016
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A restaurant chain that focuses on what it calls “affordable, healthy food” made from fresh vegetables and organic grains will open four Cincinnati-area locations, including one in Deerfield Twp. near Mason, over the next two years — and it has its eyes on the Dayton area for potential expansion, its co-founder says.

Crazy Bowls & Wraps is slated to debut at 9525 Kenwood Road in Blue Ash in early November, followed by 8250 Arbor Square Drive in Deerfield Twp. in February 2017 followed by restaurants in Hyde Park and Florence, Ky. later in 2017.

Asked about the possibility of expanding to the Dayton area, Crazy Bowls co-founder Keith Kitsis said the chain will “rely on the success of our operations there to guide us. … . Our plan is to scale this, and if Dayton makes sense, it makes sense.”

Ohio is only the fourth state for the fast-casual chain. Founded in 1994 in the St. Louis area, Crazy Bowls & Wraps operates 19 stores in Missouri, Illinois and California.

Menu items that Crazy Bowls officials tout in a news release include spiral-cut zucchini and carrots (“a welcome addition for gluten-free diners and paleo dieters”), tofu, antibiotic-free and cage-free chicken, grilled wild Alaskan salmon, and kale (“featured on the menu long before kale was cool”). The chain “began serving quinoa before the often-mispronounced grain appeared on grocery store shelves,” according to a Crazy Bowl release.

An average meal at Crazy Bowls & Wraps costs $10.50.

The four Cincinnati-area restaurants will employ about 60, according to the company.

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.