The Silos is now open in Dayton, bringing a unique community food hall and beer garden to the historic silos site next to 2nd Street Market.
Four local vendors operate out of repurposed shipping containers on the site, much like food trucks.
Teresa Perretta is in operations development with the Silos and she said they are currently operating as a centralized bar. Non-alcoholic beverages and THC drinks are also available.
"So we have a team down there crushing it on an Ohio-based brewery tap wall. We have wine, we've got cocktails," she said. "We have four locally owned businesses that are operating in 20-foot shipping containers."
The restaurants inside include Kung Fu BBQ, the Burger Bistro, Indigo and Nood Bar.
"We have Chef Dane, who started Culture in the Oregon District and he has started his second concept here called Nood Bar. And he does Asian inspired noodles, Bao buns, dumplings," Perretta said. "We've got Kung Fu BBQ who started their journey quite literally taking preorders, popping up in a parking lot, selling out hundreds of units at a time. They established a mobile food truck, they have a pop up on the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. And so this is actually their first six day a week customer facing operation where they're accessible to their client base."
Each vendor offers a unique twist on a mix of cuisine from around the world. Gluten and dairy free options are also available.
"The goal for the food here, when we were seeking candidates, we very intentionally went after four very unique concepts," Perretta said. "We feel really fortunate, first and foremost, for our initial lineup of the four vendors for the food hall. And I think that we're all learning, we're very grateful for the diversity."
The $2.73 million project was funded through private equity and federal assistance from a Small Business Administration loan.
The CEO and Founder of the Silos, Wesley Hartshorn, said he saw potential in Dayton when he first moved here 15 years ago.
"I moved here and started buying abandoned houses and from that, I was able to create a foundation in my life to later be in a position to develop this acre and a half of downtown Dayton that had been largely neglected," he said. "You know, no one was really overseeing it since probably 1990. So a good 30 plus years."
Hartshorn said that while traveling across the Midwest with his wife, he realized that Dayton was missing out on the market of commercial beer gardens.
The Silos
Location: 810 E First St., Dayton
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 pm.
“Cincinnati of course has it, Detroit, Louisville, dozens of cities around the Midwest," he said. "And so seeing that these other cities had really attracted a certain kind of community and a certain kind of overall goodwill among the people having these kinds of developments.”
The Silos also have a feather bowling court. It’s the third court in the country, according to Hartshorn. There’s also indoor and outdoor activity areas, and space for artists and vendors.
Hartshorn's wife, Kathleen, works in community engagement at The Silos. She said with less than a month of operation, the community's response has been better than they expected.
"The public's response to The Silos opening — It's like a level of gratitude that I don't think that I even realized that we would reach," she said. "Like Wes said, we've traveled the world together, we have traveled all over the U.S. together. And any time we would go places, we'd be like, 'Man, this would be so cool to bring it to Dayton,' And then one day Wes was like, 'Let's bring it to Dayton.'"
