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The local franchisee for the Mexican restaurant chain “R Taco” — which opened its first location in Ohio 13 months ago on Brown Street near the University of Dayton — applied for liquor licenses last week to serve alcohol in the 240-seat space that houses the existing Caddy’s Tap House in Beavercreek.
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It’s not clear whether a deal has been finalized for R Taco to open in the space across from the Mall at Fairifield Commons. After initially returning an email Friday morning promising a statement on the fate of the Beavercreek restaurant later that day, Caddy’s Tap House owner Billy Joe Deck has not responded to multiple requests for comment. R Taco franchisee John Slaughenhaupt also has declined to provide details of his plans for the site.
>> RELATED: Beavercreek Cadillac Jacks morphs into ‘Caddy’s Tap House’ (September 2014)
The closure of the Beavercreek Caddy’s Tap House will come 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, under the ownership of Deck. Both pubs re-branded after extensive renovations that included a greater emphasis on craft beers and a menu overhaul.
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A Fairborn location of Cadillac Jacks at 1156 Kauffman Ave., remains open. That restaurant re-branded briefly as Hangar 18 Drinking Joint & Hangout, but later returned to its Cadillac Jacks theme.
The Cadillac Jacks history also includes a pub on Smithville Road near the Dayton-Kettering border that enjoyed a run of more than a decade, from the late 1990s through April 2012.
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The Cadillac Jacks location at the Beavercreek site transformed into Caddy’s Tap House in September 2014. But the changes were not popular with some of the regulars of the former Cadillac Jacks, who voiced their displeasure on social media.
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Cadillac Jack’s co-founder Deck said at the time that the total cost of the transformation reached $250,000. An existing patio is now enclosed, a gazebo was added to provide open-air space, beer-hall-style community tables were installed in some portions of the dining area, and the number of beer taps were doubled.
>> Cadillac Jacks morphs into ‘Caddy’s Tap House’ (September 2014)
“This is basically a brand new restaurant,” Deck said at the time.
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Deck said increased competition led him to renovate and re-brand the sports bars. “It seems like everyone is opening a sports bar these days,” Deck said. “We’re trying to stay one level ahead of everyone else.”
The Beavercreek pub endured a few police-related incidents last summer. It was the site of three incidents in July and August 2017 in which arrests were made, including former University of Dayton Flyers basketball player Sam Miller, who was arrested at Caddy's for disorderly conduct. Police said Miller was accused of pushing a female bartender and acting belligerently in the back of a Beavercreek police cruiser while on the way to jail.
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