New restaurant coming to Monroe

Monroe will have a new eatery late this summer near the Interstate 75/Ohio 63 exit as the city’s Planning Commission approved project site plans last week.

According to Kevin Chesar, Monroe’s development director, Culver’s Restaurant is planning to break ground this spring on a 4,235 square-foot restaurant on 1.5 acres of land at the southeast corner of Ohio 63 and Corridor Park Drive at the entrance to the Cincinnati Premium Outlets.

“The city of Monroe is thrilled to work together with Culver’s to continue the success of adding more amenities to our growing city,” Chesar said in an email to the Journal-News. “The restaurant will provide additional jobs, dining options, and a well designed building that will continue our goal to better the aesthetics of the interchange area.”

Chesar said Culver’s representatives have been very responsive to the city’s code requirements. He also said the city has worked with Culver’s engineer and design team over the past few months to create a site that meets the city’s enhanced architectural criteria and landscaping ideals, while planning for pedestrian connectivity and fostering great access to other forthcoming developments on the remaining eastern properties.

Chesar said the Planning Commission asked Culver’s to relocate a sidewalk and to modify the location of the eastern drive-through car queuing area for safety purposes.

The new $3 million Culver’s Restaurant planned for Monroe is part of a business expansion by BryanZastrow, who owns the Culver’s restaurant on Tylersville Road in Mason.

“We’re really excited,” he said. “I can’t wait to start building. It’s going to be a great summer.”

Zastrow, who has owned the Mason store for 10 years, said he has been looking around the area to expand. Groundbreaking will take place in April and the restaurant could open as early as August, he said.

The Monroe location will employ 45 to 60 people, which is comparable to the 50 or so jobs at the Mason location, according to Zastrow.

The Monroe interchange was an ideal location, he said, because there has been so much built up in a short period, such as the Miami Valley Gaming racino and Cincinnati Premium Outlets.

Zastrow said he wanted to add to the various dining options at the interchange and saw a demand for a restaurant that can offer a drive-through as well as a sit-down dining option.

The land purchase was contingent on getting the project approved by the city. Leonard Robinson, whose company owns the land where the new restaurant will be located, said he expects the land purchase to be closed in the coming weeks.

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