NEW DETAILS: ‘The Famous Restaurant’ coming soon from Doubleday’s owners

New details are emerging about "The Famous Restaurant," which is under development by the owners of Doubleday's Grill and Tavern at the former Paddy's Irish Grill at 953 S. Main St. in Centerville.

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Owner Jon Thomas described The Famous Restaurant as a “restaurant/bar open seven days a week approximately 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and should employ about 50 people” in documents that Thomas filed with the city of Centerville.

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Thomas did not return a phone call and email message Thursday, but owners have left tantalizing clues about the new restaurant concept on a “The Famous Restaurant” Facebook page launched by the business.

“Coming to Centerville in early 2018: Inspired by three generations of culinary craft, The Famous Restaurant promises a modern take on a legendary Pottsville, PA family staple. The food makes it The Famous Restaurant,” owners said in an Oct. 31 post.

And 10 days ago, on Nov. 7, the owners posted, “We’re so excited to bring a modern take on some of the legendary culinary creations from three generations to The Famous Restaurant right here in Warm & Cheerful” Centerville.

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Jon, Steve and Stephanie Thomas, the owners of Doubleday’s, are also the owners of The Famous, according to state records.

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Earlier generations of the Thomas family operated The Famous in Pottsville, and that restaurant’s signature dishes will be on the menu of the new restaurant, employees of Doubleday’s have told its customers. Doubleday’s operates restaurants in the Cross Pointe Center in Centerville and last year launched a second Doubleday’s in the Settler’s Walk retail center in Springboro.

According to The Republican-Herald — the newspaper in Pottsville, PA — The Famous shut down in June 2016. It operated as The Famous Diner from the late 1960s until closing in the late 1970s, was leased out to a health-insurance company for several years, and reopened as The Famous Bar in 1992. A restaurant called Wheel, which specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches, operates in the space today.

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That South Main Street space, just south of Spring Valley Pike on Ohio 48, operated for 13 years as an Irish-themed pub, the first 10 years as Beef O’Brady’s, then briefly as Tavern on the Main, and most recently as Paddy’s Irish Pub. Paddy’s shut down in April 2017, although its exterior signage still adorns the tenant space.

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