Butler County restaurants: 9 recent openings, closings and demolitions

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

A look at recent restaurant moves in the Butler County region:

Tano Bistro opens in Hamilton

An award-winning restaurant’s new Hamilton location is officially open for business.

Tano Bistro debuted Aug. 5 at 150 Riverfront Plaza on the corner of Dayton Street and Riverfront Plaza in the first floor of The Marcum, a new mixed-used development.

Chef Gaetano “Tano” Williams opened the first location in 2009 in Loveland’s Historic District. Both locations offer a seasonally changing offerings with daily specials, all crafted from locally sourced ingredients.

The Spinning Forchetta opens in Liberty Twp.

A traditional Italian eatery that has been a Butler County mainstay for nearly 40 years recently found a new home.

George Shteiwi started The Spinning Fork in Fairfield with his late brother Rakan in 1981, and the business flourished for decades along Ohio 4.

But Shteiwi said the new location at 4444 Hamilton Middletown Road in Liberty Twp. inside Hamilton Elks Lodge No. 93 offers an opportunity to serve a nonprofit organization that boasts more than 900 members.

Dean’s Grill opens in Hamilton

Dean’s Grill is a new restaurant doing business in a spot vacated by a longtime family restaurant Lindenwald Station.

The eatery at 2535 Pleasant Ave. in Hamilton’s Lindenwald neighborhood offers American and Mediterranean cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees to dine in or to go, serving falafel, chicken shwarma, burgers, wings, Philly cheesesteak, gyros, sandwiches.

Fish meal options include cod, whiting fish, catfish fillet and tilapia. Side dishes are plentiful.

A Sunday buffet offers fried fish, fried chicken, red meat, rice, green beans and mashed potatoes and costs $9.99.

O’Charley’s closes in West Chester

Longtime restaurant O’Charley’s shut its doors June 30 at 7866 Tylersville Square in West Chester Twp. after 24 years at that location.

A sign posted on the restaurant’s doors thanked customers for their patronage over the years and asked them to visit any of the chain’s Cincinnati -area restaurants.

Hyde’s re-opens following weeklong “refresh’

Hyde’s, which opened in 1946, shut down for a week in early June. It installed new LED lighting and a new ceiling, swapped tiling for heavy-duty, commercial-grade carpet and gave the whole place a fresh coat of paint.

Hyde's also re-branded the store's signage and menu, courtesy of Hamilton brand identity development and graphic design firm LemonGrenade Creative. Basing the fresh, bright color palette off the restaurant's orange-and-yellow booths, LemonGrenade provided several mock-ups from which Hyde-Klaiber and her sister could choose.

Signboards outside the restaurant, which is hiring several new employees, are set to eventually change soon and will include Hyde’s new logo.

Craft Creamworks opens

A new, locally owned ice cream shop offers premium, house-made, hand-dipped ice cream.

Craft Creamworks at 7736 Dudley Drive in West Chester Twp. offers an ever-expanding list of flavors that is up to more than 70 in all. It keeps 20 of them available, rotating them regularly based on supply. Always part of the mix are 10 offerings, including Chocolate, Strawberry, Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, Biscoff, Funfetti Cake, Peanut Butter Oreo, S’mores and Vanilla Bean, plus two dairy-free options: a sorbet and a vegan ice cream.

Besides ice cream by the scoop, sundae or milkshake, customers also can order a “flight” of ice cream: four separate flavors at a smaller sampling size than the typical scoop.

Kostas’ new owner ready to reopen restaurant

Iconic Hamilton restaurant Kostas, which opened in 1950, but closed in September, is expected to open under new ownership sometime this summer.

The popular diner at 221 Court St., most recently changed hands earlier this year. Renovations started in late March and a summertime opening will unveil the changes that have been made.

Those changes include a revamp of the restaurant’s kitchen, which has been stripped down to the walls, with all-new equipment installed, Bui said. The dining room was remodeled to include new tables and booths, and the entire interior received a fresh coat of paint, she said.

The new owner said the previous owner agreed to teach her Kostas’ recipes, including how to make breakfast gravy, and also is set to help with some of the initial cooking.

The restaurant, a longtime area favorite, was included in the 2015 Cate Blanchett movie “Carol” and the yet-to-be-released Mark Ruffalo-Anne Hathaway movie “Dry Run.”

Milton’s Donuts is opening a third location

A doughnut shop with locations in Middletown and Carlisle is opening a third location.

The Donut Hole by Milton’s Donuts is aiming to make its debut later this month or in early August at 8268 Princeton Glendale Road. Its owners purchased Milton’s Donuts at 3533 Roosevelt Blvd. in Middletown in 2014 from founder and longtime owner Dan Milton and opened a second location in 2017 at 777 Central Ave. in Carlisle.

The new West Chester location previously was home to the Donut House, which abruptly closed this spring.

McDonald’s demolished in Monroe

A Butler County McDonald’s that has been in business for decades was demolished last month.

The fast-food giant’s location at 101 Garver Road in Monroe is being replaced with a completely new version of the popular franchise.

Located just off Interstate 75’s Ohio 63 exit, the new building will approximately 4,900 square feet large. It will replace a structure that was built in 1981, according to Butler County Auditor’s Office records.

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