Here’s a look at the restaurant news in August.
New
Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurant
Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant — the upscale/casual wine-themed restaurant with a full-service bar, private barrel-aging room, Napa Valley-style tasting room and gift store — has opened its first Dayton-area location in the Cornerstone of Centerville development.
Visitors walk through the front door into a wine-tasting bar and retail shop that mimics a Napa Valley winery’s tasting room.
A couple of highlights from the extensive menu include the Crispy Brussels Sprouts appetizer, blended with mint, a sesame-Sriracha aioli and cashews, that will change your mind about Brussels sprouts; a Pan-Roasted Barramundi fish entree served with sauteed green beans, grape tomatoes and Thai-Lemongrass sauce; and a decadently rich Cooper’s Hawk Chocolate Cake with hazelnut ganache and Valrhona chocolate.
Lee’s Ltd. Tenders & Dips
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
“Lee’s Ltd. Tenders & Dips,” the first of its kind restaurant for the Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken franchisee in the region, has opened at 1200 Brown St. near the University of Dayton.
The new restaurant serves a streamlined menu with a focus on boneless fried chicken tenders accompanied by multiple sauce options. It moved into space vacated by Arby’s, just north of East Stewart Street.
Saigon Noodle Bar
Saigon Noodle Bar, at 9220 Allen Road in West Chester Twp., aims to provide guests with authentic, homemade Vietnamese comfort food.
The restaurant’s menu features a wide array of Vietnamese cuisine. It’s divided into five sections: starters, Pho and noodle soups, noodle dishes, rice dishes and vegetarian dishes.
Moeller Brew Barn
Moeller Brew Barn opened a new brewery and tasting room at 214 W. Main St. in downtown Troy.
Moeller Brew Barn has operated a brewery and tasting room in Maria Stein, south of Celina in Mercer County, since 2015. Its second location is a 8,000-square-foot former-church-turned-brewery.
A brick oven provides shareable appetizers and pizzas, including a Brie, Pomegranate and Prosciutto pizza and a South Carolina Pizza topped with smoked brisket, pork belly and a mustard barbecue sauce.
Chilli’s Wings & Rings
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
The new restaurant called Chilli’s Wings & Rings, 3736 Salem Ave. is now open on Salem Avenue in Harrison Twp.
Chilli’s serves wings, chicken tenders, fish and shrimp. It is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.
The restaurant replaced T-Bird's Kitchen, which opened in late 2018. The space also recently housed 2 Flavors, and once held Florentina’s Pizza & Subs.
Dean’s Grill
A new restaurant in Hamilton, Dean’s Grill at 2535 Pleasant Ave. in the city’s Lindenwald neighborhood, offers American and Mediterranean cuisine.
Dean’s Grill is owned by Mo Abubakr and Al Alfrookh, two former college buddies who opened Patrick’s Family Restaurant on Ohio 128 in Cleves in 2015.
A majority of the menu items at Dean’s Grill are $7.49 or less including a wide array of burgers, wings, Philly cheesesteak, falafel, shawarma, gyros, sandwiches and other dishes.
Coming Soon
IHOP
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
IHOP plans to return to the Dayton market with a new restaurant on Miller Lane's "restaurant row" overlooking I-75, according to and IHOP spokeswoman and the two commercial Realtors involved in a real-estate transaction.
An agreement has been reached for the purchase of the 2.3-acre former Max & Erma’s property at 6930 Miller Lane.
An IHOP corporate spokeswoman said the Miller Lane restaurant is expected to open before the end of the year. It will be operated by a franchisee who is not associated with the area developer and franchisee that opened three Dayton-area IHOPs in Beavercreek, Huber Heights and Springfield, all of which are now shuttered.
Duck Donuts
The opening of the Dayton area’s second Duck Donuts shop is less than six weeks away, if all goes well.
The doughnut chain, which launched its first Dayton-area shop in October 2017 near the University of Dayton, will open its second location in front of the Target store near the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek.
Duck Donuts’ concept allows customers to customize their own doughnut, using a vanilla cake doughnut that is made fresh in front of the customer, who then chooses the icings, sprinkles and other toppings.
Bibibop Asian Grill
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
The Cornerstone of Centerville has more restaurant space coming, and one of those spaces will house the Dayton area’s second location of Bibibop Asian Grill.
The new restaurant coming to 5225 Cornerstone North Blvd. is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2020 “most likely February,” Bibibop spokeswoman Betsy Wright told this news outlet.
The chain’s restaurants operate with a fast-casual, build-your-own service concept similar to Chipotle. Diners choose from purple or white rice for their bowl, or have their dish prepared as a salad or wrap, then select from chicken, beef or tofu, and then top their dish from a variety of vegetables and garnishes, from pickled daikon radish to sesame kale to kimchi.
Pancho’s Place
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
A new restaurant is coming soon to 4480 Powell Road in Huber Heights, in the space that previously housed Sweet Home Family Restaurant until that eatery shut down last year.
Pancho’s Place will offer authentic Mexican dishes, including several seafood options, and it will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a spokeswoman for the restaurant’s owners told this news outlet. The new restaurant will open in about a month, the spokeswoman said.
Agave & Rye
A tequila-and-bourbon dining hall that boasts unconventional tacos is opening a new location in Butler County.
Agave & Rye plans to debut in mid October at Liberty Center with a menu that features 17 “Epic” tacos, seven street tacos, 76 tequilas and 87 bourbons.
The Agave & Rye menu features gourmet specialty tacos and craft cocktails. Beer and wine are also available.
A lineup of dining options features traditional Mexican street favorites, like a grilled chicken taco, plus “epic tacos” such as “The Crown Jewel” (a poached lobster mac and cheese), “The Sensei” (soy-and-ginger kangaroo tenderloin), “The All Nighter” (duck confit) and “The Gator Hater” (crispy Cajun alligator with spicy bourbon andouille jambalaya).
Buffalo Wild Wings
The opening of the new Austin Landing site later this year at 10048 Landing Way, between Kohl’s and Kroger near the Ohio 741 entrance, is set to coincide with the closing of the Springboro restaurant at 774 N. Main St.
Construction on the 6,657 square foot Miami Twp. restaurant began this spring. The site will include 970 square feet of outdoor patio space, and catering primarily to those staying in the complex’s hotels or apartments, officials have said.
Pizza Hut
A carry-out and drive-thru only Pizza Hut is coming to Fairborn.
The building that used to be a Dairy Queen at 1272 Kauffman Ave. has been demolished and in its place a Pizza Hut will be built, according to Fairborn Communications Manager Meghan Howard.
Howard said that construction started with the demolition of the Dairy Queen building, but she wasn’t sure of the franchise’s timeline for the project.
La Catrina Street Tacos & Tequila
A new Mexican-themed restaurant is gearing up to open in the former Club 55 Bistro & Bar space in Troy.
The 5,000-square-foot restaurant at 845 W. Market St. will seat more than 200 and will employ 15 or 16 initially, Villalpando said.
The menu will focus on more traditional Mexican dishes, with fresh ingredients, made on-site.
Closed
Primanti Brothers
A spokesman for Primanti Bros. Restaurant and Bar — who four weeks ago said the company was working to “safely open” its tornado-damaged restaurant in Beavercreek — now says its only Dayton-area restaurant will shut down permanently.
In a statement emailed to this news organization Aug. 28, in response to an inquiry, Primanti Bros. spokesman Ryan Wilkinson said the restaurant at 2430 N. Fairfield Road “was hit particularly hard by a tornado during storms that did damage across the Dayton region” on Memorial Day May 27. The costs of repairing and reopening the restaurant and rehiring a new staff are too high, Wilkinson said.
>> READ MORE: Tornado-damaged restaurant will not reopen
K’s Restaurant
The K's Restaurant in Brookville, which a police chief said suffered “significant damage” in a July 3 fire, will not reopen, the restaurant announced earlier this month on its Facebook page.
The July 3 fire heavily damaged the kitchen and half the dining room of the family-style restaurant at 485 Arlington Road, which has been in the Brookville community for 40 years. Its most recent location was the former Brookville National Bank, which was purchased and converted into the restaurant in 2005.
>>READ MORE: Fire damaged restaurant will not reopen, owner says
Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings in West Carrollton closed for good Aug. 18, according to a sign posted by the business at its 2082 S. Alex Rd. location.
BW3s officials said last year the West Carrollton site would close. The company is also preparing to shut down its Springboro site as a new restaurant is being built in Austin Landing in Miami Twp.
