Oct. 23—The number of Frisch’s Big Boy restaurants open in the area is dropping and more could be headed toward the chopping block soon.
At least two local iconic restaurants, known for their sandwiches, salad bars and pumpkin pies, are set to close this week and eviction hearings regarding several more could be held in the coming weeks.
One of the two Middletown Frisch’s locations, 3560 S Dixie Highway, and one in Lebanon, 1330 Columbus Ave., are expected to close permanently at 2 p.m. Thursday, according to the Cincinnati-based company.
The other Middletown location, 1800 Germantown Road, and one in Fairfield, 6638 Dixie Highway, are listed on eviction notices, according to Clermont County court records.
Four Frisch’s restaurants throughout the region closed earlier this year.
A lawsuit was filed earlier this month in Clermont County Court. According to the lawsuit, NNN Reit, the investment company that owns the Frisch’s properties, has filed eviction cases for more than 20 locations in multiple courts across southwest Ohio.
Frisch’s attorneys from Frost Brown Todd LLC said they have tried to work with the landlord to avoid evictions, according to the documents. The restaurant company wants more time to create a plan for closing the restaurants. Some of the hearings were scheduled for Wednesday.
The attorneys said the plaintiff insists on “impractical, piecemeal evictions, resulting in needless legal fees, a waste of judicial resources and abrupt job losses that could be easily avoided through an agreed-upon schedule of prompt closures.”
The company said “due to unforeseen circumstances and various other factors,” it was closing some locations.
The first Frisch’s opened in downtown Cincinnati in 1947. The company had grown to more than 200 locations, according to the company’s website. The site lists 37 restaurants, 25 in Cincinnati and surrounding suburbs, 11 in Northern Kentucky and one in Lawrenceburg, Ind.
