Ollie’s Place Set To Open Wednesday!

Mike Schwartz has been dreaming about this new place for more than 20 years.  He shared “that once I realized I couldn’t expand the Belmont Party Supply any more I started dreaming up this next venture.”  And on Wed, June 10th at 4pm, you can experience the reality of that dream- Ollie’s Place, located at 518 Miamisburg Centerville Rd in the Home Center Shopping Center, next to the newly located Hauer Music store.

Named after Mike’s Grandfather Ollie Schwartz,  a meat-cutter, local business owner and widowed father of six during the end of The Great Depression.  As  a strong, spirited man, he also served as a role model for Mike’s entrepreneurship. 

 

Ollie’s Place is a restaurant that features 60 rotating taps of the best craft beers, a whiskey bar that is home to over 200 whiskeys from around the world,  and a retail beer  and wine carrryout with 1600 beers to choose from. Mike says, “with that selection if you can’t find a beer you like, you don’t like beer.”  There is even a beer engine, a manually operated device used to pump beer from a cask.

 

The beercooler itself was a rather impressive piece of engineering, Mike explained to me that each time a keg is changed, the lines are plugged in to a built in cleaning line, keeping the flavor of the beers pristine. And opposite the keg wall, the bottled beer lines up into the retail side of the operation.  You’ll be able to build your own six pack and the staff is well trained to make suggestions based on your likes or dislikes.  The retail side also offers homebrew kits as well as equipment for making your own beer or wine.  Schwartz shared that they will be offering brewing classes as the new location soon.

The restaurant, with seating for 140 (plus a patio to be added later this summer)  will be open at 4pm Tuesday through Sunday for dinner, as well as lunch on Saturday and Sunday from 11am -8pm.

 

Chef Joshua Walden will be executing a menu created by consultant Chef Don Warfe.  Appetizers include a cheese plate, herbed goat cheese and baguettes, and my favorite the Tempura bacon wrapped asparagus. Salads choices included a grilled chicken salad and a strawberry and mango mesclin option.  Main course selections included curry chicken kabobs, lump crab cakes, cauliflower steak, grilled chicken, shrimp or chicken tacos and black and blue sliders.  The menu includes beer pairing suggestions for each item.

 

Sous Chef Aimee Plessa does a fantastic job with the desserts, I tasted both the vanilla bean cheesecaks and the double chocolate bourbon creme brulee, which both paired perfectly with the Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout.

General Manager Gus Stathes explained to us that the tap list for opening night will be filled with as many special beers as they can get their hands on.  On an ongoing basis you can check BeerMenus.com to know what’s on tap at Ollie’s.   He posted this hand written list on facebook a few hours ago.  So it won’t seem to matter what kind of beer you like, you’ll find something you like on draft.  And each beer has a 4oz tasting price, as well as prices for a pint, howler or growler (not all beers will be offered in growlers).

And if beer is not your thing, check out the wine list, the specialty cocktails or list of over 200 bourbons, 25 Irish whiskeys, or 55 scotch options priced for both a taste and a 2oz serving.