Now open
The Wright Café
Credit: Marshall Gorby
Credit: Marshall Gorby
The Wright Cafe is now open in the newly-built-but-never-opened IHOP at 3324 Benchwood Road in Vandalia.
The new restaurant opened “softly,” focusing primarily on breakfast and lunch, but is transitioning to also include dinner service, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The menu includes items such as omelets, pancakes, waffles, breakfast sandwiches, burgers, lunch sandwiches, soups and salads. A larger menu is coming after a grand opening, the restaurant told its Facebook followers.
Agnes All Natural Grill
A locally owned and independent restaurant that may have a familiar ring to it has opened inside the Dayton Mall.
Agnes All Natural Grill, which has operated a food truck in the Dayton area for the last two years, opened an Agnes Express location on Friday, March 15, in the Dayton Mall Food Court, according to Dave Duebber, general manager of the Dayton Mall, and Chef Brooklyn Sims, chef and manager of the restaurant’s Dayton Mall location.
The new restaurant serves Caribbean specialties that include jerk chicken wings, curry chicken, jerk chicken cheesesteak, and brown sugar lemonade, Sims said. All items are prepared fresh to order, the restaurant manager said.
Coming Soon
Jason’s Deli
The first Dayton-area Jason's Deli is now hiring and gearing up for an April opening.
The chain, which operates a restaurant in Cincinnati and three in Columbus, is putting the finishing touches on its newest restaurant at 2819 Centre Drive near I-675 and North Fairfield Road and across from the Mall at Fairfield Commons Beavercreek.
Jason’s Deli also has submitted plans to open a second Dayton-area restaurant on Ohio 741 near the Dayton Mall.
Hector’s Taco Shop
A Mexican restaurant — the first of its kind in the Dayton area — is in the works in the former Wright Wing sports pub at 1864 Colonel Glenn Highway in Fairborn.
The menu of what will soon be Hector’s Taco Shop will look familiar to customers of local Victor’s Taco Shop restaurants, but will add some specialty items as well as beer and margaritas. No Victor’s location currently sells alcohol.
Hector Gonzales, a co-owner of Victor’s Taco Shop, said the new restaurant could be open as soon as early April.
Stacked Pickle
An Indianapolis-based restaurant has applied for a liquor license to open its first Dayton area site.
Stacked Pickle, a sports-themed restaurant chain, has submitted an application to the Ohio Department of Liquor Control for a license at the former Roosters site in Miamisburg, records show.
Established in 2010, Stacked Pickle is owned and operated by former Indianapolis Colts football player and Super Bowl Champion Gary Brackett.
The chain serves American foods like wings, burgers, fried pickles and sandwiches. Stacked Pickle has nine Indiana locations, according to its website.
Club Oceano
Club Oceano, a new and locally owned seafood restaurant, will open at The Greene Town Center in early June in the 8,000-square-foot space that previously housed McCormick & Schmick’s seafood restaurant, officials with The Greene said in a press release.
The new restaurant will serve a variety of seafood dishes with Cajun, Mediterranean and Asian influences.
The space has been vacant since McCormick & Schmick’s, which had been a restaurant anchor since shortly after The Greene opened in 2006, shut down abruptly in September 2017.
Hoshi Ramen
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
A Japanese restaurant called Hoshi Ramen is now hiring and gearing up to open on Colonel Glenn Highway across from Wright State University.
The new restaurant is coming to the former College Store bookstore, located between Yaffa Grill Mediterranean Food and Tik’s Thai Express in a retail center at 2820 Colonel Glenn Highway, according to Minchun Li, who is launching the restaurant with his parents, Sheng and Anna Li. The family previously helped to operate the Flying Tiger restaurant in Fairborn.
The 3,200-square-foot restaurant is still under construction, but could open in about two months, Eric Li said. It will seat about 100 and will employ about 20, Li said.
Black Rock Bar & Grill
Credit: Black Rock Bar & Grill- Toledo
Credit: Black Rock Bar & Grill- Toledo
Black Rock Bar & Grill is seeking to hire as many as 170 employees for its new restaurant that is gearing up to open in the coming weeks in front of the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek.
Caleb Ward, spokesman for the Black Rock Bar & Grill franchise owners, said the restaurant’s founders “are hoping for a mid-April opening.”
Black Rock Bar & Grill serves entrees on a 755-degree volcanic rock, allowing diners to cook their meals to their liking. The entrees range from steaks, scallops and shrimp to hot dogs.
Tokyo Grill & Sushi
A new restaurant is in the works in at 1061 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp., in space that has been vacant since Rue Dumaine restaurant shut its doors in July 2017.
The owner of the successor restaurant, Tommy Huong, said his new venture, Tokyo Grill & Sushi, could open in about two months. A spokesman for ACF Property Management Inc., which manages the Township Square Shopping Center, confirmed a lease has been signed for the 4,380-square-foot space.
Huong said the new Tokyo Grill & Sushi will seat about 90 and will employ about eight. The menu will include several items prepared on a Hibachi grill as well as a variety of sushi rolls, the restaurant’s owner said.
Closed
Steak ‘n Shake
Two Dayton-area Steak 'n Shake restaurants have shut down, and although a spokeswoman for the burger chain says the shutdowns are temporary, there is no projected timeline to reopen the stores.
The most recent Dayton-area closing occurred at 9150 N. Main St. (Ohio 48) in Englewood. Recently, the Steak ‘n Shake at 6549 Miller Lane in Butler Twp. closed its doors
But if Dayton follows the same pattern as the Cincinnati area, more temporary closings may be on the horizon. Ten of the 12 restaurants in Butler, Warren, Hamilton and Clermont counties are now closed temporarily; only the Middletown and Eastgate locations are currently serving customers.
About the Author
