Five Guys eyes potential new restaurant in Huber Heights

Local franchisee for burgers-and-fries chain may move into a portion of the former TGI Fridays on Old Troy Pike

The franchise owner of Dayton-area Five Guys restaurants is exploring the possibility of opening a new location on Old Troy Pike in Huber Heights.

Preliminary plans have been filed with the city of Huber Heights seeking approval for the partitioning of the former TGI Fridays (and more recently, Al’s Smokehouse) at 7777 Old Troy Pike into three tenant spaces, one of which — a 2.430-square-foot section — could become a Five Guys restaurant.

Tom Gunlock, a co-founder and co-owner of the local Five Guys franchisee, said Tuesday that the proposed project is in its early stages of development and has some obstacles to overcome before it can become reality.

Five Guys currently operates four restaurants in the Dayton area, none of them in the northern half of Montgomery County: on Brown Street near the University of Dayton, on Pentagon Blvd. near the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, on Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp., and in Austin Landing in Miami Twp.

TGI Fridays shut its doors in September 2017 after a lengthy run in a free-standing building in an outlot in front of the Waynetowne Plaza.

Al’s Smokhouse opened in March 2019 but had vacated by early January 2020, and the space has been vacant for more than six months.

Five Guys, also known as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, was founded in Washington D.C. in 1986 and is headquartered in northern Virginia. It now operates more than 1,600 locations across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Its restaurants offer hot dogs and ice cream shakes in addition to its signature burgers and fries.

The first Dayton-area Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened in 2009 on State Route 725 in Washington Twp.

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