Two restaurant owners have picked the southside as the best location to expand their business.
O’Reilly’s Irish Bar and Restaurant opened nine years ago in downtown Indianapolis. Seven years later, a second location opened in Fort Wayne.
The third restaurant will be near the Center Grove area, on the northeast corner of County Line Road and State Road 135.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The restaurant will hopefully be open by mid-October, said co-owner Joel Reitz. O’Reilly’s is taking over two storefronts in the north corner of the Meridian Marketplace shopping center. RadioShack and a pizza place used to be in the two most northern stores in the shopping complex, Reitz said. The wall will be torn down between the two stores to have family dining on one side and a bar and patio on the other, Reitz said.
The restaurant will create 36 new jobs in the area, he said.
Reitz was interested in bringing O’Reilly’s to the Greenwood area since it is known for being a tight-knit community, he said. The type of community that the southside has created is similar to the business model that O’Reilly’s has, so having a restaurant on the southside makes since, Reitz said.
When looking for the right area to set up the establishment, Reitz wanted an area that wasn’t already overly-saturated with restaurants, he said. The corner of County Line Road and State Road 135 marries the traffic of residents heading into and out of Indianapolis, but is not in a long line of 10 restaurants for residents to choose from, Reitz said.
The restaurant will be 3,000 square feet and include a patio and plenty of space to watch the Indianapolis Colts or Indiana Pacers play, Reitz said.
The menu for the restaurant will be the same as the Indianapolis and Fort Wayne locations, and include traditional, bison or lamb burgers and Irish dishes, such as shepherd’s pie, Irish meatloaf or jambalaya.
Southside breweries will be on tap at the bar, Reitz said.
Waiters, hostesses and cooks are training at the downtown Indianapolis location to prepare for the new store opening, Reitz said.
Even though the Greenwood location is still under construction, Reitz is already planning for a fourth restaurant to be built in Indianapolis, he said. The owners have not discussed when or where the next restaurant will be established after the Greenwood location opens, Reitz said.
