As we bid good riddance to a year we’ll never miss, we say a fond farewell to many Miami Valley eateries. The following restaurants and bars shut their doors for good in 2020, some because of COVID-19 and others for various reasons.
Closed in January 2020
Pretzel Fest & Popcorn Pizzazz shop- Fairfield Commons
Santa Clara Juicery- but the good news is you can still get your juice delivered by door dash
Edible Arrangements Springboro
Corleone’ Pizza
Bar Louie’s- at The Greene & Austin Landing
Citilites at the Schuster Center
Closed in February 2020
Areas & Co- Kettering
The Growler Pub & Grub
Kettering LaRosa’s
Third Perk – opened a new location at Third Street today!
Closed in March 2020
Double Deuce Tavern & Family Pizzeria– recently announced Modern Food & Gas will open at this site.
Rahn’s Artisan Breads at the 2nd Street Market- high costs and failing equipment forced this closure
El Greco’s Pizza Villa- the owners just were ready to retire
Ruby Tuesday, C’ville- closed 185 restaurants, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Closed in April 2020
Greek Isle Deli – lack of the next generation of family interest and covid
Deroma Italian Restaurant
Closed in May 2020
Seasons Bistro in Springfield
Zombie Dogz- but the Food Truck came back to life
Airway Kitchen- chose not to renew lease
Stacked Pickle- this Indy chain closed all it’s locations
Closed in June 2020
Corner Kitchen- tough to raise a family and run this small business, owners opted to close
Basils on Market (Piqua)
Ruby Tuesday- Miller Lane- closed 185 restaurants, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Closed in July 2020
Crafted & Cured- plans are under way for the Dayton Arcade in 2021
Grist Provisions- renovations are now taking place on a new location on Fifth St in the former Third Perk
Wayback Burgers at the Fairfield Common Mall
Panera Bread- near the Dayton Mall- a new location is under construction
Lee’s Ltd. Tenders & Dips on Brown Street just never took off
Logan’s Roadhouse- Dayton Mall and Troy – chain closed 261 closed locations
Kilwins at The Greene
Closed in Aug 2020
Primanti Brothers – after much damage from the 2019 tornado, decision was made not to reopen
Buffalo Wild Wings in West Carrollton-
StuffedEnuff LLC closed location but still caters and does pop-ups at The Entrepreneurs Marketplace
Closed in Sept 2020
Bar 145- due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Closed in Oct 2020
EO Burgers- opening in July, just couldn’t build enough momentum during pandemic to stay open
Mila’s Suburban Café-unable to renew lease- hoping for a new location
Closed in Nov 2020
Golden Corral – never reopened due to the Covid-19 pandemic
LaRosa’s Englewood – covid 19 & expiration of lease
Closed in Dec 2020
Arepas & Co-downtown location will close 12/31/20
due to inability to renegotiate lease – but says to look for future
news
While we’ll miss many of these restaurants, 2020 was also a record year of new restaurants opening, we’ll publish that list tomorrow.
Lily’s in the Oregon District is offering a variety of ways to send off 2020 and welcome 2021, including prepare at home New Year’s Eve Surf & Turf Meal Kits (complete with recipes and instructional videos from Chef Don), Two-seatings of a Socially-Distanced, French Riviera-Inspired New Year’s Eve Dinner, and a Bonus Day of Brunch on Friday, January 1 from 11am-3pm!
Fairborn, OH 45324
Restaurant dining this December looks like most of 2020: dining outdoors where possible and getting takeout or delivery. This holiday season, local restaurants are ramping up their offerings up with special menus for holiday dining. There are feasts with traditional roast turkey or ham as the centerpiece as well as modern twists on festive meals.
316 Tap & Barrel Grill
Tokyo Grill
It was over a year ago that Elsa’s co-owner Jason Hemmert signed a lease to take over the old Buffalo Wild Wings Space in the Springboro shopping and now it’s finally time to start pouring the Bad Juans. For those not familiar- Simple, pure and lethal. This is for the heavy hitters who like to get down to business and gulp ’em down. They are however served with a tiny straw and a lime wedge for those who like to sip these slowly and savor the experience.
The menu represents a lot of the traditional Elsa’s fare- taco’s, burrito’s, quesadillas and fajita’s.
Elsa’s Boro Cantina
Giving restaurant gift cards make it easy to treat someone special to a meal, and many eateries reward your generosity. Restaurants commonly offer gift card deals, providing you with a little something extra when you purchase a specified amount of dining credits. Take a look at some of the gift card deals we found out there, most of the deals below are available now through December 31, 2020. We’ll continue to update this list, if you know of a deal we should add, please send us an 
Milanos
It’s 36 degrees out currently and I’m having lunch on the patio (Tarte Flambe Pizza) at Wheat Penny. And with just 4 of the 6 heaters turned on, it’s toasty warm on the partially enclosed patio. I came down to talk with Chef/Owner Liz Valenti about her decision to close the dining room, but still serve meals on the patio and do carry out.
Chef Liz shared that “the carryout menu will be expanding, we’ll be developing more family pack meals, utilizing our smoker more, smoking brisket. Our pizza’s, plated dinners and pasta’s have been our best sellers and I’m amazed at how many people are ordering our egg plant fries for take out. I’m actually driving up to Chicago Sunday to pick up rice flour to make more, as our local purveyors have been unable to source it. To-go cocktails have also been a meaningful addition to carry outs, saying it’s not unusual for an order to be a pizza and 3 cocktails, which helps us keep bartenders on staff. We’ve also been doing some large take outs for companies that are gifting individually packaged meals with their employees and then eating together via zoom.
Miguel’s Taco Truck has been in a familiar fixture around Yellow Springs for the last few years. It debuted at the 2016 Street Fair and is often parked by the Yellow Springs Brewery or in Kings Yards. When you see that truck you can count on getting some freshly made taco’s or nacho’s. Miguel Espinosa prides himself on using nothing from a can and hand making his sauces daily. A few weeks ago Espinosa, announced on his facebook page that the truck was being put to rest so final preparations could be made to open the bricks and mortar version.
The Dayton Peace Accords 25
And help he has. In 2015 he founded the 
t’s no question that Turkey Day is one of the best (and filling) holidays of the year but with the stress of mandated quarantine and COVID-19, we don’t blame you one bit if you want a little help or skip the cooking entirely this year. There are a number of restaurants open for the holidays, offering special feast of turkey and all the traditional sides. Many of those that will be open will be offering limited options, not their entire menu.
