ONTARIO — TGI Friday’s on Lexington-Springmill Road was the place to be on Monday night.
The restaurant held its grand opening giving the people of Richland County an “extra day to party on Leap Day,” according to the company’s flier.
The list of events included a red carpet, a ribbon cutting with the Richland Chamber of Commerce and Ontario Mayor Randy Hutchison, prize giveaways, a photo booth, free appetizers, performing bartenders, a disc-jockey, and a performance by Wooster native and “The X Factor” runner-up Josh Krajcik.
“This is our grand opening. We have hundreds of people coming in and out of here, and it’s been thrilling,” said Michael Climaco, an owner of Friday’s in Northeastern Ohio.
Climaco explained the establishment has been open for a few weeks to allow staff to get accustomed with the menu and responsibilities.
“It’s always been welcoming coming here from this community when we’ve been here,” he said. “I just think the world of this community.”
Climaco said he attended Ashland University, and though he resides in the Cleveland area, he said he is often in Richland County.
The TGI Friday’s has been remolded from when it was a Johnny Biggs, Climaco said. Before the building was a Johnny Biggs, the building was a Friday’s. Climaco said the preexisting Friday’s closed because he was in the process of opening other Friday’s.
“We realized this was truly the area we wanted a Friday’s and totally changed it back,” he said. “Now we’ve restored it to a Friday’s because I truly believe, as did my partners, this is an area where a Friday’s should be.
“It’s a family restaurant, but it’s a fun restaurant .. You can see the excitement of people having us back here again.”
