New restaurant to open in Trotwood

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By Mark Fisher, Staff Writer 8:37 PM Tuesday, September 13, 2011

TROTWOOD — A new full-service family restaurant called Hattie J’s Restaurant will open Friday at 846 E. Main St., according to owner Myrtice Nelson of Trotwood.

Rhonda Finley, the city’s director of planning and development, said Tuesday that Hattie J’s and a second full-service restaurant slated to open in the city later this month “signal growth and commitment” in Trotwood, which has struggled with attracting and keeping retail stores in recent years.

Hattie J’s will seat about 75 diners and employ 10. Its menu includes Southern-style food including ribs, chicken, jambalaya, Cornish hen, dressing and greens, as well as specialty desserts such as blackberry cobbler, peach pie and cherry cobbler, Nelson said.

Nelson will oversee the new restaurant with her husband, Standford Nelson, who owned and operated a fish and barbecue restaurant on Ardmore Street in Dayton several years ago.

“I thought Trotwood needed a family restaurant,” Myrtice Nelson said. “And I think we need to bring businesses to Trotwood and keep our taxes here.”

This is the second announcement of a new restaurant opening or preparing to open in Trotwood in recent weeks. A restaurant to be called Taste is preparing to open on Sept. 30 in a former Applebee’s location at 2555 Shiloh Springs Road near Ohio 49 and Salem Avenue.

The building that houses Hattie J’s in the Olde Towne neighborhood once housed a restaurant, but was later targeted for demolition. “We rebuilt it almost from the ground up,” Nelson said. Renovations took 18 months.

The restaurant offers carryout and delivery to businesses with a minimum $30 order, as well as catering services.

Hattie J’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Wednesday. The restaurant is closed on Thursdays. For more information, call (937) 837-1212.

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-2258 or mfisher @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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