New Restaurants Surging Into Downtown
There are hundreds of restaurants around Dayton; there's always another eatery just around the corner. Lately, though, I've seen so much more of something I did not expect: new restaurants surging into the downtown area.
New Restaurants Surging Into Downtown
There are hundreds of restaurants around Dayton. Years of living and working in this city and visiting just about every corner, you still get the feeling that you've just scratched the surface; there's always another eatery just around the corner.
Lately, though, I've seen so much more of something I did not expect: new restaurants surging into the downtown area.
About half a dozen new restaurants have opened or will open around the Downtown area. Among them are Downtown Grill & Cafe at 130 W. Second St. and World Bar-B-Que, 4029 N. Main St. which opened in December. Early next month, Agnes All Natural Grill, will move to 135 E. Fourth St.
So what’s driving so many new businesses downtown? Sandy Gudorf, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership, says it's a number of things that have been pushing development downtown this year.
"We're seeing an increased amount of activity downtown, and we're very excited about it. More jobs and companies, housing is near capacity, with occupancy at 98 percent." Gudorf said. "There's a lot of energy around the work going on with the Greater Downtown plan and other initiatives."
Gudorf told me there have been an increased number of restaurants and retailers with interest in opening up downtown, many of which are locally based entrepreneurs.
Among the ideas generating new businesses downtown is the Activated Spaces and Pop Up Shops programs, which have been generated by the Greater Dayton Downtown plan. The projects allow businesses to secure space with very short lease terms in order to create lower-risk business startups.
"A lot of work has been underway," Gudorf said, "We just raised the $4 million we needed for the river run project, we've seen increased housing and a lot of activities."
All I know is that I’ll be waiting with a clean fork and knife.
