Harris Bar & Grill is a South Asian-owned restaurant specializing in Indian food and other South Asian foods.
The restaurant officially opened mid-March inside the Quality Inn at 383 East Leffel Lane.
“We try to meet a need for the community. We took a risk, by opening the restaurant,” said operations manager Deepak Gajmer.
The pandemic was not the easiest time to start the restaurant, said Gajmer.
“It’s a tough time, right? The world is suffering, businesses are shutting down, or decreasing hours of operation. Thing is, no matter what happens, the food industry will always be there, because people have to live, people have to eat,” he said.
Gajmer aims to provide quality food and service, despite the conditions. The restaurant’s menu includes Indian and South Asian dishes, along with options for American meals.
“Mainly, obviously, we focus on the Indian food, but there are options like sandwiches and wraps. The main thing is we’re trying to bring Indian food here, we hear people have to travel to Dayton, or Columbus, or Cincinnati for that. Now, the city of Springfield has their first Indian restaurant here,” said Gajmer.
For information, visit the Harris Bar & Grill Facebook page.
Mariscos Cinco de Mayo
Mariscos Cinco de Mayo is an authentic Mexican restaurant that opened this May, specializing in seafood and homestyle Mexican cuisine.
The restaurant is located at 1236 Upper Valley Pike in Springfield.
Menu items include fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, and other Mexican food favorites. There are seafood options featured, as the first part of the restaurant name, Mariscos translates to seafood in English.
Sandra Casillas and her husband, Francisco Casillas, chose to open the restaurant amid COVID-19. When their current jobs looked uncertain, they decided to try opening their own business. The Casillas have both worked in the restaurant business for most of their lives, and Francisco Casillas has been a head cook since 2010.
Sandra Casillas had previously lived in Springfield for 15 years. She is a graduate of Northwestern High School. Despite living most of their lives in the U.S., the couple has strong ties with their families’ origins in Mexico.
“Our dishes go beyond what is consumed like regular tacos and burritos. We offer more tropical, from the coast dishes known as the Mariscos Nayarit style. If you are not into seafood, our menu will provide authentic Mexican tacos, I haven’t known anyone who doesn’t like tacos,” Sandra Casillas said.
The Casillas’ hope is to provide an authentic Mexican food experience for locals.
For information, visit the Mariscos Cinco de Mayo Facebook page.
Myers Burgers & Wings
Myers Burgers & Wings has joined the food family inside COhatch Springfield in June, after about a year of planning by its creative team.
The restaurant concept was a collaborative effort, by Christopher Titus, who is the restaurant’s business operator; Gavin Meyers, owner of North High Brewing; and the Matt Davis, the CEO of COHatch.
“We were just having fun, and said, ‘What is Myers Market missing?’ And we thought ‘Cheeseburgers and chicken wings.’ So we were like, ‘Let’s do this.’ It took us about a year to really get this thing going, just because we were opening so many other places around the state. It took us a little bit, but it’s working out well,” said Titus.
The business name pays homage to the name of the original Market, as well as the owner of North High Brewing.
The restaurant’s logo, featuring the silhouette of a burger with a pair of wings, takes inspiration from the rock band, Van Halen, a favorite of Titus, clearly reflecting the creative approach to the business.
“We really wanted to offer a different experience, a different product that you couldn’t find at the Market, which was three things we do really well, which is cheeseburgers, chicken wings, and eventually soft-serve ice cream and milkshakes,” he said.
For more information on the restaurant, visit their website at https://www.myersburgersandwings.com/.
Eatly
An outdoor homestyle Italian food venue is set to arrive in Springfield near the Wittenberg University campus next weekend.
The restaurant’s name, Eatly, is a play on the country name of Italy and his family’s roots, said owner Tom Thompson. It is planned to open at 601 N. Fountain Ave. on Aug. 6 at 11 a.m.
“It’s gonna have a combination of both American and Italian comfort-type food,” Thompson said.
He said his mother’s Italian heritage inspired his latest restaurant venture, and items on the menu will reflect family recipes, and the restaurant’s atmosphere will mirror Italian cafes.
“I got in contact with cousins over there [in Italy] that I never knew, and I’ve just been trying different recipes that they have shared with me,” Thompson said. “It’s more authentic. Since we can’t go over right now because of COVID, I wanted to create something over here with kind of the same feel and vibe of a European cafe that you’d find, like out at the beaches in Italy.”
For more information, visit the Eatly page on Facebook.
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