Ben Dodson, who works in pharmaceutical sales and intends to continue in that career, said he served as an original manager of the Fricker’s sports bar on Woodman Drive in Riverside from 1988 to 1995, when he returned to school. Shawn Dodson, who has worked at Geez Grill & Pub in Washington Twp. for 21 years, will oversee the day-to-day operations of Bennett’s Publical with two other managers, Ben Dodson said. The new business will employ 45 to 50 people, he said.
The new sports grill could open by mid-to-late August, Dodson said. It will seat about 80 in the dining room, an additional 40 in the bar, and 50 on its patio. Two banquet or special-events rooms, seating 70 and 20, also will be available in the multi-story building, Dodson said.
“We’ve been looking for the perfect location for 15 to 20 years, and this is it,” said Dodson, whose father, Dr. Verne Dodson, has served the Miamisburg community for nearly 50 years as a family physician.
The “Publical” portion of the new sports grill’s name is a bit of an inside joke — a reference to a code word for “bar” that Dodson said he coined with his friends in his younger years.
Anticoli’s Giuliano Tavern, which opened in 2011, closed its doors on June 7 after 80-year-old owner Leo Anticoli retired.
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