ONTARIO, Ohio — O’Charley’s restaurant at 1335 N. Lexington-Springmill Road revealed its recent renovations to the public on Friday.
“O’Charley’s has been remodeling a lot of their stores and this year have 30 scheduled to do, and we were one of the 30, said Brent Smith, general manager.
“They wanted to choose stores where there’s really strong community involvement, and like here at this location, we have a lot of regulars who come in, so we just wanted to make a nice, new place for the customers.”
Changes were made to both the interior and exterior of the 12-year-old building in four days (June 8-11). The remodel included swapping out the tables, booths and chairs for new ones, and applying new paint and wallpaper.
“It’s definitely a night-and-day difference,” Smith said, noting, “The idea was to give it a little bit more of a comfortable, southern feel.”
He added, “It’s a wide-open floor plan, too. There used to be some walls [near the entrance] that kind of closed it off when you first walked in, and now it’s more open.”
The refurbished restaurant also features an oval-shaped booth. “We call it our ‘signature O booth,'” Smith said. “It’s pretty unique.”
The Richland Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated the renovations with a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning.
The first 50 guests who visited O’Charley’s on Friday were given a gift card that’s good for a free “$9.99er” meal.
In the near future, the menu will feature some new dishes. Smith could not reveal what they are because they’re still determining which items will be included.
He noted that some of the menu-favorites, like “Free Pie Wednesday” will remain. The deal gives customers who buy an entree a free slice of pie with their purchase.
O’Charley’s opened in 1971 in Nashville, Tennessee. According to the company’s website, O’Charley’s currently has over 200 locations in 17 states.
