November restaurant highlights: 3 new, 4 coming soon and 3 closed

November was a wild month in restaurant news.

The beloved El Greco’s Pizza Villa in Harrison Township announced it would close at the end of the year. The response from the community was so overwhelming the owner changed her mind about shutting down the restaurant for good.

“Dear Customers, want to let you know we will NOT be closing Dec 22. I'm reconsidering/considering other options, but nothing is final. Thank you for your patience and your loyalty,” the El Greco Facebook page said.

Here’s a look at other restaurant developments that occurred this month:

Open

Bar Granada 

Credit: Mark Fisher

Credit: Mark Fisher

“Bar Granada” in downtown Dayton opened “softly” over the long Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Bar Granada will be part Spanish deli, part European Cafe, according to co-founder Paul Pelnar. It fills the space that formerly housed the Wine Gallery.

The bar has posted its full menu on its web site, although Pelnar cautioned that the bar would serve a limited menu of croquetas hot and cold tapas in its initial few weeks of operation before introducing its special plates of the day and charcuterie selections. The drinks focus will be on beers and wines, and will later expand to include cocktails.

>> READ MORE: New Spanish-themed tapas bar now open in downtown Dayton

Rusty Taco

The taco chain formerly known as R Taco, which opened its first Dayton-area franchise restaurant in March 2017, has a new name and a second Dayton-area location across from the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek.

Its new name is actually its original name: Rusty Taco, named after its founder, Russell "Rusty" Fenton, who opened the first Rusty Taco in the Dallas area in 2010.

The new restaurant will seat about 75 inside and another 50 on its patio.

A favorite Chinese cuisine restaurant in Oxford, Phan Shin, has reopened after an absence of more than 17 months.

The popular Asian restaurant, at 104 W. High St, shut down after business on May 29, 2017, for the building to be completely removed and a new one constructed.

“It took a while, but it was worth the wait,” said Yvonne Lin, manager of Phan Shin, a few days before the opening. She and her husband, John, bought the restaurant in 2008.

Coming Soon

T-Bird’s Kitchen 

A new and independently owned restaurant called T-Bird's Kitchen is gearing up to open at 3736 Salem Avenue northwest of Dayton.

T-Bird’s Kitchen is located southeast of Free Pike, in space that most recently housed 2 Flavors, and which once held Florentina’s Pizza & Subs.

The opening-day menu will include chicken wings, mac and cheese and waffle fries. Burgers and other items will be added to the menu in the weeks following the opening.

>> READ MORE: New & independently owned restaurant coming soon to Salem Avenue

The Greene Canteen 

The founder of a locally owned gourmet pretzel company is gearing up to open a cafe-style restaurant that will focus on “clean foods” such as salads, juices and smoothies, along with a sandwich menu and baked goods.

The build-out of “The Greene Canteen” is underway with plans to open by spring of 2019 at 134 Dayton St. in Yellow Springs, according to Brittany Baum, the cafe’s founder and owner.

The Greene Canteen will offer grab-and-go selections that will include vegetarian and vegan options. “We'll probably start small and expand hours once we get our feet under ourselves,” Baum said.

Jason’s Deli 

Jason’s Deli, which operates a restaurant in Cincinnati and three in Columbus, is gearing up to open its first Dayton-area restaurant in Beavercreek.

The Texas-based sandwich chain will be Giordano's Pizza’s neighbor at the site of a former Logan’s Roadhouse restaurant near the Mall at Fairfield Commons and Wright State University.

Jay Tortorice, spokesman for the Jason’s Deli franchise group that will operate the Beavercreek location, told this news outlet that he expects the restaurant to open “late in the first quarter” of 2019, about the same time as Chicago-based deep-dish pizza specialist Giordano’s will open its first Dayton-area restaurant in the other half of the building.

>>READ MORE: Jason’s Deli is eager to introduce itself to Dayton

Dunkin’ Donuts 

Two additional Dunkin’ Donuts stores that are in the early stages of development are coming to 2815 Harshman Road in Huber Heights and at 1505 N. Fairfield Road in Beavercreek.

Construction is expected to begin in March 2019 of the Huber Heights doughnut shop, while the Beavercreek location still must navigate some development requirements and is under contract.

Meanwhile, a “Next Generation” Dunkin’ Donuts concept store is expected to open as early as December at 5901 Far Hills Ave. in Washington Twp., and a new Fairborn store at 168 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road is on schedule to open in the first quarter of 2019.

>> READ MORE: Dunkin’ Donuts confirms locations of 2 MORE Dayton-area doughnut shops

Closed

Pepito’s

The last remaining Pepito’s Mexican restaurant at 3618 Wilmington Pike  has shut down after 35 years, marking the end for a locally based chain that served the Dayton area for 38 years.

Here’s what Chris Bucio, the son of the Pepito’s Mexican Restaurant’s co-founder and owner, Ramon Bucio, told this news outlet in 2013, when the original Pepito’s on Catalpa Drive in north Dayton shut down after what was then 33 years in business:

“My father Ramon Bucio created the concept of Pepito’s with his brother Ignacio Bucio in 1980, and by the mid-1980s, Pepito’s became arguably the most well-regarded Mexican restaurant in the Miami Valley. In its heyday, there were six Pepito’s stretching all the way north to Sidney.”

OinkADoodleMoo 

An OinkADoodleMoo restaurant that had been open for nearly three years shut its doors at 40 N. Main St.

OinkADoodleMoo owner Steven Meyer said the store was “underperforming” in sales. All employees of the restaurant are working at other OinkADoodleMoo locations, in Kettering, Clayton, downtown Dayton and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

OinkADoodleMoo barbecue will still be available via delivery in Miamisburg, and catering also will still be available in and around the city, Meyer said. And gift cards and loyalty reward benefits are valid at all other OinkADoodleMoo locations, the restaurant’s owner said.

>>READ MORE: A second BBQ restaurant shuts down in Miamisburg, 2nd in two months

One Bistro

The faith-based, nonprofit One Bistro in Miamisburg will not reopen after announcing earlier this fall that it would suspend operations for two months.

The restaurant posted the following notice on its Facebook page on Monday, Nov. 19:

“Thank You, Miamisburg!

We love this community and are grateful for your six years of service and patronage to One Bistro in Miamisburg.

As we listen to God and trust in His perfect timing and wisdom, we also follow in obedience. We set some goals we simply were not able to reach and want to let you know we will not be reopening our Miamisburg location …”

>> READ MORE: One Bistro in Miamisburg will not reopen after initially announcing hiatus

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