Local Tavern Opens Mentor Location in Sawyer Home

People kept Local Tavern's Facebook page wall crowded with comments anticipating its opening in Mentor long before a meal was served at the old Sawyer Home.

The restaurant's owners earned that reputation just a year after opening their first location in Willoughby Hills. Local Tavern's Mentor site opened in June, not long after Frank and Pauly's Restaurant closed.

"I think there's a possibility they were excited because they had been to the other restaurant and may have traveled from Madison or even a couple people from Ashtabula," co-owner Tim Roush said. "I think that something closer to this side of the county was exciting for them, and I think word got out about our food."

That menu contains dishes ranging from pasta to meatloaf and contains a section entitled, "Plate Lickers." Other specialties include "Cheese Bomb Fries" and the "Shroom Sandwich."

Roush and his partners, cousin John Loxterman and David Bos, put up $200,000 to make improvements to the space and hire more than 60 people. Roush said the group was subleasing the space from Frank and Pauly's owner Dennis Koury.

Though the guys have a combined 80 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Roush, a Painesville native, knows opening two restaurants in two years is quite a feat for his group. They owned restaurants in California, like the Wicked Garden in Dana Point, Calif., but went out of business as a result of the economic downturn.

"It was really coming out of depression, pulling ourselves out and giving this a shot," said Roush, who moved back to Northeast Ohio in 2010 after living on the West Coast since the '80s.

"I lost everything I had, except for my wife and I had a home out here."

Now, the group is considering expanding with a fish-house concept and a mexican restaurant. Roush said two of the possible locations are in Mentor.

"There were some growing pains getting it together," Loxterman said, "but, overall, everyone is happy to see this building flourish a little bit."