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Fifth Season Prepares to Open in Mineral Ridge
MINERAL RIDGE, Ohio -- Owners of the Fifth Season Restaurant say they are looking to create the same atmosphere in the restaurant’s new home on Route 46 as its original Austintown site.
After closing the Mahoning Avenue Fifth Season restaurant five weeks ago, the owners say the new restaurant could open as soon as next week in its new location, in the former T&G Lounge, which is attached to the Fifth Season Banquet Center here. The banquet center opened about five years ago. The restaurant opened in its original location in 2002.
“It’ll have a similar atmosphere. We tried to keep some of the same touches, like some of the same tables [and] the same paint colors for the big room. As far as the food goes, we have a lot of the same favorites, said Ryan James, manager and co-owner of Fifth Season Restaurant and Catering. He owns the restaurant and catering business with his wife, Ashley, and his brother, Steve, who purchased the former 7-Mile Inn in 2001 and opened the Fifth Season the following year.
“We have been closed longer than we planned but it’s the only thing we could do,” Ashley James said.
The decision to consolidate the restaurant with the catering/banquet operation was driven largely by cost, Ryan James said.
“It’s more cost effective to have everything under one roof and get one delivery and have one liquor license,” he remarked. He expects the business to benefit from the opening of the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course next year. But the racino project wasn’t a factor in the decision to move the restaurant, which will be located just north of the Interstate 80 interchange, widely considered one of the busiest interchanges in the country.
“It was just out of the way. We didn’t get a lot of traffic out there” at the Mahoning Avenue restaurant, he said. “The food is what brought people in and now we’ll have traffic and the food will be just as good.”
With the relocation, the restaurant will lose about 30 seats. Plans call for adding a patio and renovating a room now utilized for storage to accommodate small private parties.
The owners are awaiting final inspections before setting a firm reopening date. In advance of that, they are holding an open house today and Saturday. The $5 admission covers the cost of appetizers; a cash bar will be available. “We want our restaurant regulars to be able to see the new place. We also want to give people who haven’t seen the banquet center the opportunity to see it,” Ryan James said. “It’ll be a relaxed, formal atmosphere.
Information about the open house is available by calling 330 799 3438.
Copyright 2013 by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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