The building is in front of Meijer at the corner of Garner Road and Main Street.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Texas Roadhouse opened its much-anticipated $9.5 million new restaurant a mile east from the previous location, which was more than 25 years old.
Lance Walker, market partner for Texas Roadhouse at 10 locations in Greater Cincinnati and Central Ohio, said the original Hamilton location had 2,500 guests a week when it opened in 1999. Now, it serves 8,500 a week.
“We simply outgrew the old location,” he said. “We knew we had to reinvest into Hamilton because of everything they’ve given us.”
The building is about 2,000-square feet larger and the restaurant has a new electronic ordering system so servers can wait on more people an hour. With the adjacent Meijer, Walker said there is parking to spare “so you don’t have to wait two hours for a legendary dinner and just get legendary service.”
While Moeller won’t have to answer when the Texas Roadhouse will open, he be asked “what’s going in the old location.”
Texas Roadhouse owns the building, and Walker said there’s an 80% possibility it will be a Jaggers, a fast-food chain owned by Texas Roadhouse that specializes in burgers, chicken and shakes.
“I haven’t sold it yet,” he said. “We’re thinking about doing a Jaggers. It’s not 100 percent in the cards, yet.”
Walker said Texas Roadhouse also owns Bubba’s 33, a sports-themed establishment, but doubts they’d pursue that chain. If Jaggers were to open in the former Texas Roadhouse location, it would be the first in Ohio. Other Jaggers locations are mostly in Indiana and Kentucky.
Walker said the reinvestment into Hamilton was an easy choice, he said. “They’ve been by our side, thick and thin, through everything we’ve been through, and they’ve been loyal, loyal guests and give the city of Hamilton a gem,“ he said.
Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dan Bates said it’s positive for the city to see the Kentucky-based chain reinvesting in Hamilton, calling it “a great nod to Hamilton.”
“If you haven’t been inside, it looks terrific,” he said during Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting, thanking them for their reinvestment in the city. “The food is the same quality as you always come to expect.”
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