The idea for a beer garden in Dayton was something founder Wesley Hartshorn cooked up while traveling with his wife, Kathleen.
The couple saw multiple establishments across the Midwest that Dayton was missing out on. Then they found the perfect site: the historic silos on the edge of downtown Dayton.
Now the Dayton Silos are open with food, drinks and plans for expansion. WYSO's Shay Frank spent time with the team behind the new beer garden, learning its origin story and vision for the future.
Dayton Silos
Where: 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.
Bringing silos back to life
The long dormant set of grain silos on one and half acres of land caught Wesley's eye in early February of 2022.
“No one was really overseeing it since probably 1990," he said. "So a good 30 plus years.”
Over the next few years, he invested $2.73 million in developing the site, with the help of private equity and federal assistance.
Once the site was funded and in development, Hartshorn’s team hunted down four local food vendors to work out of 20-foot shipping containers.
'Crazy busy' restaurants
Kung Fu BBQ, the Burger Bistro, Indigo and Nood Bar were selected for their unique menus and local history. Each restaurant offers a different style of cuisine, inspired by global street food. Vegan and gluten free options are also up for grabs at Indigo.
"We have some baked goods, but we're heavy on the plant forward meals, that's we call it," said Katie Mathews, the co-owner of Indigo. "So lots of local, organic. Everything is gluten free, everything can be made vegan. We use local meats if we do have meat on the menu."
So far, the community’s response has been explosive. Vendors have reported selling out of products on weekend rushes, including Cece Howell who runs the Burger Bistro at the Silos.
She said her food is sourced locally and she found one of her suppliers just around the corner from the Silos.
"It was a local farmer found at Second Street Market," she said. "I source all my products from local farmers as well as local butchers."
Howell said her take on classic American flavors with a twist has drawn increasing interest since opening.
“It's been crazy busy. I thank God for my amazing staff to be able to hold the capacity of the customers and still give out amazing quality food," she said.
Those sentiments are echoed by Howell’s fellow food vendors including Chef Dane Shipp who runs Nood Bar at the Silos. Shipp is known locally for founding the restaurant Culture in the Oregon District.
"I thought it was a really cool concept. The idea of a bar with four different restaurants, downtown Dayton," he said. "So I immediately just wanted to be a part of it just because I wanted to be a part of the new cool thing.”
Shipp said his menu was inspired by his time growing up with friends from Laos.
"They kind of taught me like Laos Asian food and Thai food. And so I kind of translated [that] into this," he said. "We focus a little more on Japanese, but that just kind of that style of cooking just kind of progressed all over Asia for me."
'Feels a lot like coming home'
At Kung Fu BBQ, owner Nathaniel Lansangan said coming back to serve Dayton feels like returning to his roots.
After years of working on Wright-Patt Air Force Base, setting up a restaurant in Dayton reminds him of the days he spent offering weekend barbecues out of a driveway with his family.
“Coming out to serve everybody, it feels a lot like coming home," he said. "And we're hoping that, and I think I've seen in the people that have come, that that's how they feel too.”
Those family-inspired barbecues brought Lansangan to where he is today, serving American traditional style barbecue melded with other cultural foods using an American smoke and barbecue technique.
"We have things like truffle mac and cheese, we have things like collard greens and frijoles charros is one of the culture elements. Those are sides," he said. "And then we smoke brisket, pork, butt and chicken quarter every day."
Lakisha Ancrum grew up on the west side of Dayton and she has visited the Silos with a group and by herself.
She said after visiting with family and trying the Triple B burger from The Burger Bistro, she came back to try something from each vendor on site.
“It feels amazing because normally we would have to drive 15 - 20 minutes away from our home where this is 5 to 10 minutes," she said. "So it makes a difference when you feel like you're investing back into your community as opposed to someone else's.”
Phase II plans
Teresa Perretta helped Hartshorn develop the concept for the food hall and she said this is only phase one of the Silos.
“Phase two includes the development of — a corner building on the property that we're looking for another independent operator to find its home," she said. "Something that has shared synergy with the food hall, but operates a tad separately from the food hall.”
With more real estate to develop around the site, Perretta said an additional building next door to the Silos is already in high demand.
“We want to bring other people here. It has made the calling for the second building to be an event center or potentially take the shape of just gathering larger groups of people together for events," she said.
They eventually plan to develop the silos themselves and create an opportunity for visitors to stay overnight within the structures.
Manager at the Silos, Dalton Vanwinkle, said when the weather starts to warm up, they will also open the garage doors on the lower level.
“Can't wait to get the furniture and everything out on the lawn. We're hopefully, here soon before it's warm, getting the bar set up out there," he said. "So we have another – place where people can order and – maybe some local talent out here playing music and some games out there. It’ll be a fun time.”
Chris Dimmick is another repeat customer who used to live in Southern California.
He has visited the Silos four times to sample all of the food and drinks available and he said as someone who is part of the restaurant business himself, he is impressed with the establishment.
“It's been amazing. The place is clean, friendly people, extremely well appointed," he said. "It's a great vibe in here and the food's been awesome. They have absolutely killed it with the vision for this place and the execution.”
Mathews said she is looking forward to seeing the Silos blossom in the spring and summer.
“By then our menus will switch over to more spring and summer things, which will be fun," she said. "So we're getting our footing in the winter and then I think in the spring we'll be ready to figure that out.”
As the weather improves, the Silos will also offer more outdoor games and activities to activate the rest of the land mass in Dayton.
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