Did one of your favorites close? Restaurants that shut their doors in 2018

Did one of your favorite Dayton-area restaurants close its doors?

It was sad news for many when they learned their beloved cafe or tavern had shut down in 2018.

Here’s a look back at some of the closings, including one founded and owned by a member of the longest continually operating restaurant family in the Miami Valley, a craft beer pioneer and a 40-year-old Beavercreek tradition.

>> Hungry for something new? 15 crave-worthy restaurants that opened in 2018

Williams Eatery

A Yellow Springs restaurant that served customers for nearly a decade shut its doors for good as its owner prepared for another restaurant venture.

Founder Lawren Williams told this news outlet the restaurant, 101 Corry St., lasted nearly 10 years. Williams said diminishing sales, especially during the winter months, and an expiring lease were the primary factors in his decision to close.

“I am very thankful for all of the people who came out to eat at our restaurant over the years,” Williams said.

La Piazza 

Credit: Maria Norman for Dayton.com

Credit: Maria Norman for Dayton.com

Founded and owned by a member of the longest continually operating restaurant family in the Miami Valley — La Piazza shut its doors for good in February.

Located at 2 N. Market St. on Troy’s town square, La Piazza was launched by Michael and Jennifer Anticoli in 1992, and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017.

“Being the last operating member of my family's 87-year restaurant history creates a feeling of importance but it also helps me put it into perspective,” Michael Anticoli told this news outlet on the day his restaurant shut down for good. “I want to feel as if I've done my name proud and know that, as I leave, I was able to make a contribution to the effort that began so long ago.”

Rocky’s Pizza Ring

A restaurant that operated for more than four decades in Beavercreek closed its doors in 2018.

“We want to thank you for allowing us to be a part of your family and for over 40 years of memories,” the owners of Rocky’s Pizza Ring in the Beaver Valley Shopping Center said on its Facebook page in March 2018, when announcing the closing.

The restaurant closed for good on June 30, 2018.

>>Beavercreek pizza restaurant closes after more than 40 years

The Wine Gallery and Café 

A wine bar and restaurant that has operated for 12 years in two locations in downtown Dayton said its final farewells in May.

Brian Linnean opened The Wine Gallery at the Cannery at East Third Street and Wayne Avenue in 2006, then moved the business to Main Street and Monument Avenue in January 2010 after buying the building at 5 W. Monument Ave.

The business and property has been transformed into Bar Granada, a new Spanish deli and European cafe.

Zoup! 

Both Dayton-area Zoup! restaurants shut down permanently in May.

Zoup franchise owners opened their first Dayton-area restaurant adjacent to Whole Foods on Ohio 725 in Washington Twp., and opened its second location at 5235 Cornerstone North Boulevard in the Cornerstone of Centerville development in Centerville just four months ago. Initial plans called for the franchise owners, Kevin Forrer and Brian Wood, to open two more Dayton-area locations.

Forrer said that poor sales at both locations were the primary factor in the decision to close.

Caddy’s Tap House

The Caddy’s Tap House at 2760 Towne Drive in Beavercreek shut down May 6, after a run of nearly 15 years, most of them as Cadillac Jacks Sports Bar & Grill.

The closure of the Beavercreek Caddy’s Tap House came one year nearly to the day after the closure of the only other Caddy’s Tap House, at 9400 N. Springboro Pike (Ohio 741) in Miami Twp. Both businesses operated as Cadillac Jacks Sports Bar & Grill prior to transitioning to Caddy’s Tap House. Both pubs re-branded after extensive renovations that included a greater emphasis on craft beers and a menu overhaul.

>>Just In: Caddy’s Tap House to shut down its Beavercreek location

Applebees in Sugarcreek Twp.

The franchise owner of Applebee’s Grill & Bar restaurants throughout Ohio permanently shut down one of its Dayton-area restaurants June 9.

“Thank you for sharing your community with us,” read a coupon offering $10 off at two other Dayton-area Applebee’s, offered to customers of the restaurant at 6242 Wilmington Pike in Sugarcreek Twp. “We have closed this location and look forward to seeing you at our other area Applebee’s.”

RMH Franchise purchased what was then 88 Ohio Applebee’s in the fall of 2013 as part of a multi-state sale by a Kentucky-based franchisee.

>>Applebee’s shuts down one of its Dayton-area restaurants

De’Lish Cafe

Credit: Jim Witmer

Credit: Jim Witmer

Jasmine Brown announced on her Facebook page that her restaurant, De'Lish Cafe, located at 139 N. Main St., would close for good.

“As I am sitting here writing this, I am tearing up. This message is to let everyone know that De’Lish will be closing July 31, 2018 for good.

“My family and I have given this city 8 long and hard years of our lives. We have had good times and we have had bad times…We would like to say thank you to everyone that has spent one red cent at our establishment. You have made it possible for me to not only take care of my family, but for me to be able to give back to my community, which is a true blessing…”

Brown launched the restaurant in 2010.

>>Downtown restaurant closing for good

Chappy’s Tap Room and Grille 

Credit: Teesha McClam

Credit: Teesha McClam

A local beer bar and restaurant that was a pioneer of the craft beer movement in the Dayton area shut the doors of its original location in late June.

Chappys Tap Room and Grille at 2733 West Alex-Bell Road near Springboro Pike (Ohio 741) in Moraine — which opened in 2007 and helped lay the groundwork for the Dayton area’s thriving brewery scene — consolidated operations to Chappy's Social House at 7880 Washington Village Drive in Washington Twp.

The Moraine pub’s lease expired at the end of June. Consolidating to the larger Centerville-area location “was always our plan,” Chappys co-founder and co-owner Lori Yanko Camplin told this news outlet. All employees of the Moraine location were offered positions at the Washington Twp. location, Camplin said.

>>End of an era and a new beginning for Dayton beer pioneer

Roost American 

Roost Events, the restaurant adjacent to Fraze Pavilion that was formerly known as Roost American, closed in October.

In a release, owner Dana Downs called the closure “a good business move” that will allow her to put all her efforts into Roost Italian, her restaurant in Dayton’s Oregon District, and into her catering business.

The space at 580 Lincoln Park Blvd. has had a turbulent history, as restaurants have struggled to make year-round, full-service dining thrive at the location. The concepts that have come and gone there include Harbour Lights, Lincoln Park Grille, Norton’s, Pavilion Grille and The Tropics.

>>Roost to shut down its Kettering location this fall

Siam Pad Thai 

An Asian restaurant that has operated in Kettering for nearly a decade has closed, but its owner, who helped introduce many in the Dayton area to Thai cuisine 14 years ago, says she intends to reopen a new restaurant two miles away in Dayton in 2019.

Siam Pad Thai — which has offered a variety of Thai dishes as well as an extensive menu of sushi and sashimi since it opened in November 2008 at 3027 Wilmington Pike just south of East Dorothy Lane — shut down in September.

“I have to start all over again,” founder and owner, Pakawan "Fon" Christman said. The 30-seat restaurant was unable to reach an agreement on a new lease, she said.

Christman helped introduce Thai cuisine to the Yummy Burger, a downtown Dayton diner, in 2004, then became co-owner of what was then Ban Thai restaurant in the Beaver Valley Shopping Center in Beavercreek in 2005 before opening Siam Pad Thai three years later.

Blue Note Bistro & Lounge 

Credit: AJ Waltz

Credit: AJ Waltz

The Blue Note Bistro & Lounge in downtown Miamisburg closed in October.

Julie Delph, owner of the Blue Note, said, “I gave it a good fight ... (but) I have no choice. ... Hopefully somebody will buy the Blue Note and continue its tradition.”

“But it’s amazing how much support and love I’ve been receiving from everyone. I look at it this way. Most people don’t get a chance to have their dream. I had mine for two very wonderful years.”

>>Blue Note jazz club padlocked in legal dispute with creditor

Max & Erma’s in Butler Twp.

Credit: Jim Witmer

Credit: Jim Witmer

Max & Erma’s restaurant at 6390 Miller Lane in Butler Twp. closed permanently Oct. 28.

It was one of three remaining Max & Erma’s in the Dayton region and employed about 40 people.

Based in Columbus at the time, Max & Erma’s opened the Miller Lane location in the mid-1990s.

>>End of an era: Dayton Max & Erma’s restaurant closing after more than 20 years

Pepito’s 

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

“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,” Chris Bucio, the son of the founder, said in 2013.

A successor restaurant opened under a new name, Jorrge’s Restaurante Cantina, just two blocks up the street at 3800 Wilmington Pike, and it includes some of the favorites from the former Pepito’s.