The Applebee's shut down in December 2013, and the space has remained vacant since then. The new El Rancho Grande will seat about 250 and will employ as many as 30, Rodriguez said.
RELATED: Applebee’s franchise owner closes one of its Kettering restaurants
In addition, El Rancho Grande has leased the former LaRosa's at 7375 Old Troy Pike (Ohio 202) in Huber Heights and will open a restaurant in that space. LaRosa's shut down the company-owned pizza restaurant a month ago, in late October.
RELATED: Local pizza restaurant closes; are more headed that direction?
Plans call for shutting down the existing El Rancho Grande at 7500 Poe Avenue in Vandalia in conjunction with the opening of the Huber Heights location, Rodriguez said. That is scheduled to happen in mid-March, depending on construction of the new restaurant, Rodriguez said.
Gregg Gorsuch, economic development manager for the city of Kettering, said city officials are pleased the restaurant space will be active again after an extended vacancy.
El Rancho Grande “has had great success” with its restaurant on Wilmington Pike south of Stroop Road in Kettering, “and there’s no reason to believe they won’t be just as successful at the new location,” Gorsuch said.
There are currently 13 locations of El Rancho Grande, seven of those in the Dayton area. Its seventh Dayton-area location was the restaurant at 1200 Brown St. at Stewart Street on the doorstep of the University of Dayton, which opened in early 2014.
About the Author
