“We’re getting such a great, warm reception from the community,” said Sherri Zelen, who, along with her husband Steve Zelen, purchased the Green Lantern and the surrounding three-acre property in 2019. “Everyone is so happy we opened this place back up. One man was in tears because he remembered his parents used to bring him here to the Green Lantern when he was a child.”
The former Green Lantern traces its history back more than a century, and it has served as a local watering hole for many decades just north of the Dayton city limits. Its former owner, Marge Belme, died in April 2018, and the bar had been shuttered for several months when the Zelens purchased it last year. But the interior retains some of the Green Lantern’s legacy.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: New owners lay out their plans for the historic Green Lantern bar (November 2019)
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
The new restaurant’s sales are equally split between the bar and the pizza-making operation, Sherri Zelen said. The bar has 12 taps, including domestic and craft brews. Signature cocktails, spirits and wine are available. Patio seating also is available, as are outdoor cornhole games. There are dart boards inside.
Steve Zelen has operated pizza restaurants in Florida before coming to Ohio, and has developed a Roman-style pizza dough recipe that he says is unlike anything currently available in the Dayton area.
“The crust has the perfect ratio of crisp to chew,” he said.
Credit: Mark Fisher
Credit: Mark Fisher
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Plans for a ribbon-cutting and grand opening event with the Riverside Chamber of Commerce are in the works, Sherri Zelen said.
Old Dayton Pizza at Riverside Hideaway is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight — “and we serve food right up until midnight,” Sherri Zelen said. “Also, we are currently doing happy hour all day.”
For more information, check out the Old Dayton Pizza Riverside Hideaway Facebook page.
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