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Fazoli’s chooses Dayton to launch new restaurant concept
Fazoli’s has chosen Dayton to roll out its new concept stores — starting with a new restaurant that will open next week across from the Dayton Mall — and is investing $750,000 total in its five Miami Valley restaurants.
“We think Dayton is a great market for us,” said Carl Howard, president and CEO of the Lexington, Ky.-based chain of 243 Italian restaurants across 30 states. “Our restaurants have performed very well there, and they’ve held their own through the recession.”
Despite relatively high unemployment and foreclosure rates and some high-profile business departures, the Dayton area remains an attractive market for restaurant operators, especially casual restaurant chains. In 2009, upscale burger chains Smashburger and Five Guys Burgers & Fries opened the first of what chain officials say will be several locations across the Miami Valley, following on the heels of a rapid expansion of Sonic drive-thru restaurants. And EO Burgers, a first restaurant of its kind for a small Ann Arbor-based chain, is scheduled to open this week at The Greene in Beavercreek.
The newest Fazoli’s is scheduled to open to the public Tuesday, March 9, at 2419 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, across from the Dayton Mall in Miami Twp. The restaurant will open with 50 employees, and Fazoli’s total employment in the Miami Valley has grown to 160. The other four Fazoli’s are located in Sugarcreek Twp., Moraine, Huber Heights and Troy.
All of the Miami Valley Fazoli’s are among the first in the chain to adopt upgrades that are likely to spread to other restaurants in the coming months, Howard said. Plates, glassware and silverware have replaced plastic and paper, and servers now deliver meals to guests’ tables orders are placed at the counter, replacing the former self-serve style.
While the experience may be a bit more formal, Fazoli’s CEO deflects the idea restaurant chain is going upscale, pointing out that its menu in some cases reduced prices. All salads and sandwiches are now $4.99 or less, Howard said. “It’s a very affordable place to eat,” the CEO said.
And it will be a homecoming of sorts for Howard when he comes to Dayton next week for the grand opening ceremonies Tuesday: He grew up in Kettering and is a 1983 graduate of Fairmont East High School.
“My dad still lives there, so I’ll see plenty of family and friends when I come back,” he said.
The newest Fazoli’s will be open Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, call (937) 439-4645.
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