Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The restaurant, located at 130 W. Second St., is open for lunch only 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Oct. 20 through Oct. 22.
Lunch and dinner will be served 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Oct. 23 and 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. Oct. 24 and 25. The restaurant will be closed on Sunday. A grand opening will be announced at a later date.
The early days of 1Eleven Flavor House
The owners originally opened 1Eleven Flavor House on West First Street in the space that now houses Tear Drop Steakhouse in January 2021 serving Caribbean and comfort food.
Before opening 1Eleven Flavor House, Wright had owned bars and grills in Clayton and Trotwood, but wanted to have more of a sit-down restaurant.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
He was working in the space at 111 W. First. St., when Williams stopped by the restaurant.
Wright had met Williams at 15 years old. Williams was a mentor to him on and off the basketball court. He had also been a silent partner in a Popeyes restaurant.
“I thought I’d never want to do this ever again after that,” Williams said. “As it turned out though, my father and I had always wanted to go into business together and do some investing.”
His father was a partner in 1Eleven Flavor House before he died during Covid.
They recalled opening 1Eleven Flavor House days after their chef had quit.
Wright knew someone from the Caribbean that served as a consultant and he and Williams “started freestyling and started mixing things together” in the kitchen.
Making changes
“It was going really well,” Williams said. “We wanted to grow, do something more, so we started looking around (and) did some other things.”
The owners went on to open an event center, located at 312 N. Patterson Blvd. in the former space of Basil’s On Market, in February 2023.
In January, 1Eleven Flavor House closed its doors on West First Street to focus on the event center and catering.
The owners offered lunch at the event center, but “it was kind of hard to attract the same customer base,” Wright said.
Parking was “not as generous” near the event center, so lunch “kind of fizzled out.”
They had been in talks about the new restaurant space since May or June and signed the lease in August. The event center closed earlier this month.
What to expect in the new space
With the move to the new space, the owners plan to “step up” their customer service.
“To really differentiate ourselves, we’ve got to really go hard at the customer service,” Williams said.
“We’re going to dabble in creole versus just Caribbean and comfort food,” Wright said.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
They’ve added dishes such as gumbo (featuring crab legs, chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp, okra, onions and peppers on top of Caribbean rice) to their menu.
Favorites such as the collard green dip have been elevated. For example, the dip was previously served with chips. It is now served with house made pita chips.
The restaurant is also offering more grilled options.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Here’s a sampling of the lunch menu:
- Chicken Wings (10 wings tossed in BBQ, lemon pepper, hot, spicy garlic or FH gold) $15
- Cranberry Walnut Salad (mixed greens, feta cheese, cucumbers, cranberries and walnuts dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing) $14
- Portobello Dian (grilled portobello mushroom, onions and bell peppers served on top of Caribbean rice and smothered in a parmesan cream sauce) $18
- Jerk Burger (grilled all-beef patty, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onions, tomato, pickles and Caribbean BBQ sauce on a toasted brioche bun) $17
- Sweet Chili Shrimp Po’ Boy (Cajun, fried shrimp tossed in a sweet chili sauce with lettuce on a toasted pistolette roll) $18
- Oxtail Sandwich (braised oxtail with Dijon mustard on a toasted brioche bun) $23
- Chicken Fontaine (grilled chicken breast, portobello mushrooms, onions, peppers and parmesan cream sauce over garlic mashed potatoes) $23
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
As for cocktails, they’ve returned to the restaurant’s original menu.
“With this space it’s like the best of both worlds,” Wright said. “You can still dine on this side and then you can still do events and that thing on that side. It’s not as big over there as the previous event center, but it still give us the opportunity to do events and catering on that side and still be housed under one roof.”
Carryout is available. In the future, the owners plan to have a designated area for pick-up orders.
For more information and updates, visit the restaurant’s Facebook (@1elevenflavorhouse1E) or Instagram (@flavorhouse130) pages.
Natalie Jones writes about food and dining in Southwest Ohio with an emphasis on the Dayton region. She may be reached at natalie.jones@coxinc.com.
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