New Dayton restaurants: chicken wars, sports pubs rule the roost

Last week brought the opening of more Dayton-area restaurants and sports bars — and announcements of even more new restaurants to come.

This time around, the emphasis was on chicken on the food side of the menu, and beer — of course — on the drinks side of the menu.

Here’s a wrapup of news from the local restaurant scene:

• Mike's Nashville Hot opened its first Dayton-area restaurant on Wednesday, Nov. 23, in the Austin Landing development in Miami Twp. —and a second location is already on the way in Centerville.

The new 2,300-square-foot restaurant is located at 10655 Innovation Drive, and is the brainchild of Centerville native and local restaurateur Mike Craddick, who also operates four Dayton-area Five Guys Burgers & Fries as well as the Another Broken Egg restaurant in Austin Landing.

The second location is coming to 6230 Far Hills Ave. (Ohio 48) in the Shops of North Village retail center in Centerville, and is projected to open by mid-January. Craddick said plans call for significantly expanding the brand’s footprint throughout a nine-county area surrounding Dayton, starting in 2017. “We’re definitely looking in Beavercreek, we’re definitely looking at north of town,” Craddick said.

• Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers will enter the Dayton market in the coming months with at least two, and perhaps as many as four, new locations.

Raising Cane’s spokeswoman Andria Morgan confirmed last week that the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chain’s Ohio franchisee is scheduled to open its first Dayton-area location at 1136 Miamisburg-Centerville Road (Ohio 725) in Washington Twp. The space most recently housed the Golden Dragon Buffet & Grill.

And the franchisee is close to inking a deal on North Fairfield Road in Beavercreek for a second Raising Cane’s location, Morgan said. Plans call for the Ohio 725 location to open as early as June 2017, with the Beavercreek restaurant following perhaps a month later in July, the Raising Cane’s spokeswoman said.

“We are still looking at other properties” to continue the chain’s expansion in the Dayton area, Morgan said. Robert Zavakos — senior vice president of the commercial real estate firm NAI Bergman who is overseeing the Dayton-area site selection for Raising Cane’s — said other potential restaurant sites may include the Kettering, University of Dayton, and Miller Lane areas.

It does seem that Dayton is becoming the epicenter for a version of chicken wars. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is gearing up to more than double its footprint in the Dayton area, starting with a new restaurant in Springboro, and Chick-fil-A is building a new restaurant in front of Town & Country Shopping Center in Kettering.

• The Dayton area's newest brewpub, Wandering Griffin Brewery & Pub across from Wright State University in Beavercreek, opened to the public Wednesday, and will host its grand opening on Dec. 2. The new pub's Wanderlust coffee bar starts serving up hot java at 6 a.m. every day.

The 10,000-square-foot brewpub — located at the former Quaker Steak & Lube space at 3725 Presidential Drive off Colonel Glenn Highway — isn’t brewing its own beer yet. But it has two sets of craft taps offering about 30 craft beers, many from Dayton-area breweries.

** Here's a sneak peek inside the new brewpub.**

Wandering Griffin’s food menu serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, entrees, pizzas and appetizers. Appetizers include Smales Pretzel Bites and Scratch-Made Tater Tots; sandwiches include Balsamic Roasted Portabello and the signature dish, B. Young’s Beef on Weck, consisting of thinly sliced tri-tip beef on a weck roll with caraway seeds, dipped in au jus and served with fresh horseradish. Entrees include Lemon IPA Roasted Chicken and Pork Belly Mac & Cheese.

• The new sports pub called Old Bag of Nails is poised to open tomorrow — that's Monday, Nov. 28 — in Centerville. This is the 15th location for the Columbus-based chain. Old Bag of Nails operates 13 pubs of the same name in Columbus and central Ohio, plus a location in Mason.

The first Dayton-area location will open next to Schlotzky’s deli on the west end of Cross Pointe shopping center, facing Ohio 48. It will occupy 6,000 square feet, will seat 140 to 160 and will open with about 75 employees.

Old Bag of Nails’ menu features items such as house-made clam chowder, burgers and its signature dish, Fish & Chips. The new Centerville pub will have 20 craft-beer taps.

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