Dino’s Family Restaurant in Maumee is moving to a new location, but it isn’t going far.
The independent diner known for homemade breakfast-all-day and chili mac, is moving from its current location at Gibbs Street and the Anthony Wayne Trail to a space across the street in the Golden Gate Plaza.
The new location, between Pathology Laboratories and ProMedica Physicians offices, has been vacant nearly five years and previously housed a tobacco shop.
The decision comes after restaurant owners Dean and Yanna Yakumithis learned that another party was interested in acquiring the property, and that they would have to consider a new location.
For more than three decades, the couple has operated a restaurant in Maumee — 26 at the current location. But they never owned the building. And for more than a decade, after their lease expired, they have been renting the space on a month-to-month basis.
Initially they were unsure what to do, but the company ultimately decided to keep the business going for the sake of their trusted employees and loyal customer base. The decision came in late June after a meeting with the property owner.
“We’ve been here so long that our customers are not just our customers, they are our friends and they are our family,” Mr. Yakumithis said. “We’re right in the heart of the city of Maumee, home sweet home.”
While moving to a new location is a daunting task, change is good, Mrs. Yakumithis said.
“To be honest with you, it’s going to be better. We’re going to do more upgrades, so that’s going to be nice,” she said. “And we’re not going to go far — just across the street.”
Once a purchase agreement is finalized, the couple will have six months to move the business and they should have definitive information in August as to when that will be. In the meantime, preparations have begun for the new location, which although is still very early in the process, means it could open in February, 2024.
“No matter the case we are going to move,” Mr. Yakumithis said. “Once things begin to firm up I’d like to make it happen as quickly as possible to minimize the downtime for our customers and, more importantly, for our staff.”
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In April, rumors began swirling that Dino’s was closing. As the frequency of those rumors intensified, leading to a decline in business, Mr. Yakumithis became more frustrated with the manner in which the primarily false information was being disseminated and the aggravation it was causing his staff.
“People don’t realize the effect that their conversations or their Facebook comments have on other people’s lives,” he said. “The rumor is out that we are closing and our business has dropped. That is directly affecting the income of my staff. They live on tips.
“Not only are they concerned about that, but the anxiety level of not knowing what is true and what is not true,” Mr. Yakumithis said.
To “set the record straight” he reiterated that the building is not being removed to make way for a new bike path and he is not “selling out” the business. Quite the contrary.
While final numbers have yet to be determined, he said his investment into the new space, which will be slightly larger but a different configuration than the current space, will be substantial. The menu will remain the same, and he will be able to accommodate larger parties, he added.
Property owner Mark Zyndorf of Signature Associates confirmed Tuesday that a contract agreement has been reached with an interested party to buy the property where Dino’s is currently located, but it’s not yet been finalized. Mr. Zyndorf would not name the interested party but said that if approved, the new business would not compete with Dino’s new location across the street.
For 39 years, Mr. Zyndorf has been a majority owner of commercial property known as the Golden Gate Plaza, which includes the current Dino’s building along with Rite Aid on the west side of Gibbs Street, plus the strip plaza on the east side where the new Dino’s will be.
Prior to opening as Dino’s, the single-story, stand-alone building, which was constructed in 1958, served as a Don’s Drive In. Plans for the site call for the building to be torn down, Mr. Zyndorf said.
Longtime Dino’s employee Patty Brenkman fully embraces change and said Wednesday she looks forward to working in the new space.
“I have complete faith in Dean and I think the transition will be as seamless as he can possibly make it,” Ms. Brenkman said. “People are negative, it’s a human nature thing, but I think it’s a blessing that Dino’s will still be in the community.”
First Published July 19, 2023, 8:38am
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