Peach's puts Arena District on list of five spots for Florida dining chain

 

While Peach's Franchise LLC expects to debut its Peach's Rise & Dine Restaurant in Central Ohio Jan. 29, the Bradenton, Fla.-based company has picked four other spots where it plans to open restaurants in the first half of the year, including Columbus' Arena District.  Gary Hoyle, co-owner of Peach's Franchise, said the restaurant will occupy 4,600 square feet on the first floor of the URS Corp. building at 277 W. Nationwide Blvd.

 

Though operating hours for the chain typically are 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Hoyle said the downtown restaurant will open on evenings when events are planned in or around Nationwide Arena. The restaurant operator expects to draw weekend diners from downtown, the Short North and Victorian Village.

 

Read more at http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/othercities/columbus/stories/2007/01/22/newscolumn1.html?b=1169442000%5E1405159

Ron Gajoch, of RJG & Associates Inc., applied for two variances for the property at 1576 W. Fifth Ave., which once was a BP gas station. Gajoch said he couldn't provide details about the project until it gets through the variance request.

 

Grr. 

 

BAJA SOL RESTAURANTS GROUP ANNOUNCES OHIO EXPANSION

Area Development Group Inks Nine Store Deal for Columbus Area

 

(Inver Grove Heights, MN) – Baja Sol Restaurants Group today announced the signing of a nine store deal with an area development group based in Columbus, Ohio. Baja Sol Restaurants Group currently operates a chain of fast casual fresh Mexican restaurants in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market known as Baja Sol Tortilla Grill.

 

“This is an important milestone for our company,” said Tony Sutton, Chief Executive Officer. “The Columbus area is an excellent first market for our Baja Sol Tortilla Grills outside of Minnesota. It will help accelerate our plans to be a national competitor.”

 

The Columbus area development group is led by Chris Scott and Brian Cooper, both of whom bring a great deal of business savvy to the table and have deep roots in the Columbus area. Scott, a long time executive with Technifor, and Cooper, a small business owner, plan to open their first store sometime later this year.

 

“We are excited to bring the Baja Sol brand to Ohio,” said Scott. “This company has a high quality fresh Mexican concept and an experienced, innovative leadership team which creates a tremendous potential for growth. I am very confident that we will be successful in the Columbus market.”

 

In the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, Baja Sol Tortilla Grills are well known for their unlimited hot tortilla chip and salsa bar, which includes eight signature salsas.

 

http://www.baja-sol.com/index.html

Peach's puts Arena District on list of five spots for Florida dining chain

 

While Peach's Franchise LLC expects to debut its Peach's Rise & Dine Restaurant in Central Ohio Jan. 29, the Bradenton, Fla.-based company has picked four other spots where it plans to open restaurants in the first half of the year, including Columbus' Arena District.

 

I found Peach's website, and it looks so much like First Watch.

My God, it does!

I always end up wearing a plaid shirt to First Watch and feeling like a jackass.

 

Moreso.

If they're going to be in the Arena District, would they take the building vacated by Blues Station (R.I.P. 1/1/07)?

Arena District's Red Star Tavern closes

 

The Red Star Tavern in the Arena District has closed.  Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd., developer of the Arena District and Red Star's landlord, said it repossessed the restaurant space after the business failed to make lease payments for the past six months.

 

Nationwide Realty filed for an order with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court allowing it to reclaim the 5,800-square-foot property at 191 W. Nationwide Blvd. The order was approved Monday morning.  "We've given this restaurant a number of chances to remedy the situation," Michelle Chippas, Nationwide Realty's director of marketing, said in a release.  "We don't think they ever made a strong commitment to make this location work."

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/02/12/daily2.html

Rise & Dine chain moves HQ to Worthington

 

After entering the Columbus breakfast-and-lunch market, Rise & Dine Restaurants has shortened its name and moved its headquarters to Central Ohio.  Peach's Franchise LLC, the Rise & Dine chain's franchisor, shifted its head office from Bradenton, Fla., to Worthington.  With plans for 50 Rise & Dine locations in Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, the company said Worthington was better situated to support its franchisees.

 

The company also shorted the restaurants' name from Peach's Rise & Dine Restaurants.  The first Rise & Dine in Ohio opened Monday on Fifth Avenue in Grandview Heights. Four more local outlets are scheduled to open this spring in the Arena District, Dublin, New Albany and Marion.

 

The chain's Web site is www.risedine.com.

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/02/12/daily14.html

Pistachio Finds Its New Home in German Village

 

      Columbus - February 2, 2007 -Pistachio owners, Spencer Budros and Anne Fletcher announce their decision to move their retail pâtisserie to German Village. Since its 2004 opening in the Short North, Pistachio has earned local and national pastry recognition. The dessert menu reflects classic European technique with a style unmistakably its own. Spencer comments, "We are honored that our hometown of Columbus has embraced our brand. We have been inspired by the vibrancy of this culinary community."

 

 

http://www.pistachiosweets.com/news.html

WHAT?  I thought they did so well in the Italian Village/Short North!?!?  Well, that opens up space for something new (hopefully, better than Piece of Cake *boo hiss*).

First Wendy's restaurant to close

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Wendy's International Inc. said Friday that sagging sales will force it to close the restaurant where the nation's third-largest hamburger chain began in 1969.  The iconic restaurant, filled with memorabilia and photographs of the late Wendy's founder, Dave Thomas, will close March 2. 

 

Thomas opened his first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers on Nov. 15, 1969.  He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy.  He later became a nationally known figure as a Wendy's pitchman in television commercials.

 

But the original restaurant, just a few blocks from the Ohio Statehouse, is unable to generate sufficient sales at night or during weekends, when government buildings are closed, Lynch said.  The restaurant has no drive-through window, has limited parking.

 

Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070224/ap_on_re_us/original_wendy_s_closing_3

This is a sad day.  I think they are pulling out too soon.  They want to discuss redevelopment issues only after they close?  Perhaps if they would have discussed such a thing a couple of years ago, there would have been more development in the area and more construction workers eating there and eventually more residents. 

Noooooooooo!!!  That restaurant is culturally all we have going for us in Ohio! :cry:

I EAT THERE!!!!!!!!!  NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noooooooooo!!!  That restaurant is culturally all we have going for us in Ohio! :cry:

 

Don't forget the first Frisch's

Not having a Wendy's in uptown Oxford anymore is a great loss, too bad Cbus will see the same trajedy.

 

 

Why is Wendy's headquartered in Dublin?!?!?

I wonder how bad COSI moving hurt their business?

Quite a bit apparently.

 

Original Wendy’s will fade into past

Moving of COSI hurt E. Broad St. restaurant

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Barnet D. Wolf

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The original Wendy’s restaurant that company founder Dave Thomas opened in 1969 will close Friday.  The Downtown icon, chockfull of Wendy’s memorabilia, has been losing money for years, particularly after the old Center of Science and Industry across the street closed in 1999.  Wendy’s had put off the decision to close the restaurant at 257 E. Broad St. for years, and acted only after determining that the building would require a costly upgrade.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/02/24/20070224-A1-01.html

lame... LAME!!!

Go here and leave your comments:

 

http://www.wendys.com/feedback.jsp

 

Couldn't hurt. I did.

This really is a disgusting move in my opinion....so you're telling me that 1 single restaurant is hurting your corporation of over 6,600 stores enough to have to close it down!?!?!  Now I get it if the location is in Wherever, USA but how in the hell can you justify closing down your original location??

 

This seems to be another example of an Ohio based company showing NO loyalty to their hometown (see: Federated, AK Steel,blah blah blah).  I won't go on, but you all know what I'm saying...this is C-R-A-P!!!

Drive-through culture takes its toll.

well, it does go along with the proud columbus tradition of destroying it's history  :drunk:

So true.

Kahiki anyone?

Sonic burger chain speeding to open restaurants

DAN EATON | [email protected]

February 23, 2007

 

COLUMBUS - Columbus has long been fertile territory for food ventures, with its reputation as a reliable test market and its status as home to several national restaurant chains.  But America's fourth-largest burger chain hasn't operated in Central Ohio until now.  Sonic Corp. opened a restaurant at 3661 E. Main St. in Whitehall this month and it expects to run many more in the area very soon.

 

The company envisions opening 25 to 35 restaurants in Central Ohio by the end of the year.  While the planned Sonics would amount to a fraction of the 97 McDonald's and 78 Wendy's restaurants in the region, reaching its development target would put the chain on par with Burger King's 31 restaurants in Central Ohio and eclipse the 20 stores run by hometown chain White Castle System Inc. and the 15 Rally's drive-throughs operated by Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc.

 

Read more at http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/othercities/columbus/stories/2007/02/26/story2.html?page=2&b=1172466000^1422135

Well, Sonic can now move into the vacated ORIGINAL Wendy's. 

Well, Sonic can now move into the vacated ORIGINAL Wendy's. 

 

You owe me a new keyboard.  Now mine _as vomit _tuck be_ind _ome of the key_.

Columbus microbreweries foster loyal following

Business First of Columbus - February 23, 2007

by Scott Rawdon For Business First

 

Ross Wilcox is a Columbus native and he drinks Columbus beer.  In a city known nationally as a corporate test market, locally brewed beer offers him something that relates to his home town.  The commercial real estate agent and his friends, Jason Oesterreich and Brent Stamm, occasionally hang out at the Columbus Brewing Co. after work for a brew and a bite.  They can get domestic or imported beer in many places, but it's the beer brewed at this local microbrewery that brings them to the particular venue.

 

Columbus has had a rich history of microbreweries since the 1800s, but in the last 20 years, the combination of restaurants and microbreweries, or brewpubs, has helped them experience a renaissance of sorts.

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/02/26/focus1.html?b=1172466000^1422407

I likey Columbus Pale Ale. What other brews do they have?

 

I likey Columbus Pale Ale. What other brews do they have?

 

 

Living just down the street from CBC, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on their brews!  If you like the Pale Ale, try the IPA.  It's slightly more bitter and has a citrusy taste to it.  They are also somewhat known for the Apricot Ale.  Fruit beers aren't really my thing, but lots of people love it.  They've got a nice scottish ale and a pretty good porter too.

 

Actually, if you head down this way, go for the tasting flight.  They only charge around $5 to have a 4 oz. sample of everything they've got.  There's no better way to determine what you like than tasting them all side-by-side.

they got rid of their nut brown ale! :(

when they did that i think they changed their porter too...at least to me it tasted different

 

Actually, if you head down this way, go for the tasting flight.  They only charge around $5 to have a 4 oz. sample of everything they've got.  There's no better way to determine what you like than tasting them all side-by-side.

 

Agreed, it's a cheap and delicious way of tasting a nice selection of beers. I personally like the darkers beers, and I found the porter and scottish ales to be pretty good. The seasonal beer at the time wasn't bad either. Though of the local brewpubs, Elevator Bar is my favorite. Every one of their beers is fantastic, especially the Procrastinator Dopplebock and the Coal Porter.

Though of the local brewpubs, Elevator Bar is my favorite. Every one of their beers is fantastic, especially the Procrastinator Dopplebock and the Coal Porter.

 

I'm with you.  The Chocolate Stout they had in January was delicious. 

InPlay bidding to get into game with arcade-restaurant venture

 

InPlay bidding to get into game with arcade-restaurant venture.  Thomas Duncan, director of franchise services, said InPlay includes a service that separates it from the crowd - it offers banquet and conference facilities, which generate $4 of every $10 in sales at the company's complexes in Des Moines, Omaha, Neb., and Peoria, Ill. Though competitors host meetings and events as well, InPlay is different because it builds dedicated conference and meeting areas away from the gaming and sports bar areas, and they are decorated to look like a banquet and conference center, not like a Las Vegas casino, Duncan said.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/03/05/newscolumn1.html?b=1173070800^1426022

damn... that sucks for Mad Mex... hopefully justice will be served

That would be the first time in my memory that Steve Sterrett gave a no comment

Johnny Rockets lifts off from Easton, Potbelly's Takes Place

 

The Johnny Rockets diner chain is flush with a new owner and plans for new express-style restaurants, but it has pulled back in Columbus - at least temporarily.  The Lake Forest, Calif.-based chain late last month closed its Easton Town Center restaurant, which will be replaced by a Potbelly Sandwich Works LLC outlet.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/03/12/story6.html?b=1173672000^1429374

I likey Columbus Pale Ale. What other brews do they have?

 

Living just down the street from CBC, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on their brews! If you like the Pale Ale, try the IPA. It's slightly more bitter and has a citrusy taste to it. They are also somewhat known for the Apricot Ale. Fruit beers aren't really my thing, but lots of people love it. They've got a nice scottish ale and a pretty good porter too.

 

Actually, if you head down this way, go for the tasting flight. They only charge around $5 to have a 4 oz. sample of everything they've got. There's no better way to determine what you like than tasting them all side-by-side.

 

Thanks for the tips. I've actually had the Apricot Ale. Not quite as horrid as you'd think. I'll PM you if I ever get down there for the flight.

 

InPlay bidding to get into game with arcade-restaurant venture

 

InPlay bidding to get into game with arcade-restaurant venture

 

...

 

According to the court filing, a sewage pipe from Ugly Tuna Saloona sprung a leak and did enough damage at Mad Mex below that it was forced to close for more than 24 hours to clean and disinfect its food service preparation equipment and discard food...Mad Mex claims it suffered losses of $12,000 plus the loss of goodwill from customers.

 

$12,000 lost in 24 hours? That's a LOT of freaking tacos. Good show, Mad Mex. Now with authentic Tijuana spices.

 

By the way, my greatest guilty pleasure: Gameworks. 'mon InPlay! Bring it!

BJ's Restaurant opens in Polaris

 

BJ's Restaurants Inc. has opened its first Ohio restaurant on Polaris Parkway.  BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse began serving its beer and Chicago-style pizza near Polaris Fashion Place Tuesday.  The 8,500-square-foot restaurant seats about 270 customers.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/03/12/daily20.html?surround=lfn

Short North restaurant scene getting more crowded

BY DAN EATON | [email protected]

March 16, 2007

 

COLUMBUS - The Short North's dining scene used to be a zero-sum game - new restaurants tended to arrive when others departed.  But brisk development in the district has created a host of new spots that restaurateurs have been happy to fill.  That has created an overriding cause for concern - heightened competition - to dampen the enthusiasm for tapping into the Short North's draws, principally its galleries and boutiques and its proximity to downtown and the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/03/19/story1.html?b=1174276800^1432634

These plate prices are crazy! Even the Happy Greek is a major financial commitment.  Mitchell's people are deadly right about the Cap effect. Betty's seems to have the most reasonable prices in the stretch. Now let's get some more reasonable grub out there for the conventioneers and locals. Also, I think The Press Bar would have less to worry about if their place didn't stink like moldy socks. But maybe it's the blue cheese for their premium martinis.

^ I hear you...most of the restaurants in the SN are in no-man's land for me.  They're somewhere between casual dining and special occasion places.

I'm glad I moved to LA, eating in Columbus just got too damn expensive! ;)

Here is a quick inventory of restaurants in the Short North Art District:

 

Dining

Basi Italia

Benevolence Cafe

Betty's Fine Food + Spirits

Bodega

Buca di Beppo

Burgandy Room, The

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants

Cold Stone Creamery

Emack & Bolio's

Giant Eagle - Thurber Village

HAIKU

Happy Greek, The

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

L'ANTIBES

Lemongrass Fusion Bistro

Liu Pon-Xi

Martini Italian Bistro

Max & Erma's on the Boulevard

MoJoe Lounge

North Market

Northstar Cafe

Phillips & Son Coney Island

Piece Of Cake

Pistachio

Planet Smoothie

Press Grill

Rigsby's Kitchen

RJ Snappers

Rosendales

Rossi Bar & Kitchen

Schakolad Chocolate Factory

Short North Tavern

Spinelli's Deli

Surly Girl Saloon

Union Station Video Cafe

Zen Cha Tea Salon

Zeta European Emporium

 

For more information about shopping, entertainment, art and lodging opportunities in the Short North Art District check out:

http://www.shortnorth.org/

Giant Eagle?

Yeah, Giant Eagle is a quite a bit off of the Short North along with the North Market, Basi, Buca di Beppo, and Max N' Erma's.

North Market I can see, but  doesn't "restaurant" imply a destination where one might enjoy a prepared meal? I guess Giant Eagle fries a mean donut, and I DID swipe a jumbo kalamata from the antipasti bar last night...

What about Mac's Cafe?