Northern Kentucky : Development News

Rash, LLC, a design and fabricating studio in Bellevue in Northern Kentucky, offers a 360-degree cycle of design-related services to local artisans. Rash helps with everything from consultation to concept to construction.
 
Rash was founded in 2012 by Timothy Rives Rash II. He received a BA in architecture form the Architecture School of Design at the University of Virginia and a masters in architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture. For the past 10 years, Rives has worked on similar projects with other companies and partners. He’s also currently teaching at the University of Kentucky’s College of Design.
 
Mostly, Rash completes the projects for clients, including drawings and any necessary extra design, says Myra Rash, Rash’s media manager. “But there have been a few times where the client is crafty and will help out to learn, or to just get dirty.”
 
The majority of Rash’s projects have been out-of-state, but they did complete the large red oak cross for Belleview Baptist Church’s façade. Rives also collaborated with students from UK’s College of Design and St. Elizabeth Hospice Center in designing and fabricating a concrete base for an I-beam from the World Trade Center to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of 9/11.
 
“We hope to bring eye candy to the area, plus some good designs of our own and, most importantly, great collaborations with local firms, contractors, artists and designers,” Myra says.
 
Rash is currently working on the Speechbuster for the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City. It’s a 54-foot long table that is put together like a giant jigsaw puzzle and upholstered with neoprene with a rainbow gradient for indexing the 36 parts that make up the table.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The historic preservation offices of Covington and Bellevue are searching for historic homes and commercial buildings or owners and tenants who are interested in talking about their experience with their historic homes or buildings for an educational film.
 
The film will focus on historic preservation in Northern Kentucky and will begin filming in June. Chosen submissions will be filmed and included in the final video, which will be shared online and will be used to educate people throughout the region, says Beth Johnson, preservation and planning specialist for the City of Covington.
 
“This project will make people look at the buildings and appreciate them in a different way,” Johnson says. “When you live in a historic district, you see these buildings every day and take them for granted.”
 
Johnson has already received numerous submissions. “People are in love with their historic buildings and take pride in their community,” she says.
 
This is the second video that the Covington and Bellevue historic preservation offices have collaborated on. The first video, “Historic Preservation: Saving Place,” was produced in 2011 and narrated by Nick Clooney. It won the 2012 Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation Preservation Award and the 2012 National Alliance for Preservation Commission Excellence in Public Outreach/Advocacy.
 
The second video is a continuation of the first, but it includes more education. The first was a basic introduction to historic preservation, Johnson says.
 
Both films were funded by the Certifiable Local Governments grant.
 
All historic homes and commercial buildings in Covington, Newport and Bellevue are eligible to be included in the video.The focus of the video is on the architecture of Northern Kentucky, including Greek revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, second empire, colonial revival, four square and craftsman/bungalow style.
 
To submit your home or building, send interior and exterior photos of it to bjohnson@covingtonky.gov by 4:30 p.m. May 13.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Two weeks ago, Covington’s Department of Public Infrastructure hosted a tour and shared its best practice models. Many of DPI’s current projects focus on capital improvements related to problems such as street reconstructions and landslide concerns.
 
Covington’s infrastructure developments keep things running, says City Manager Larry Klein.

“When people see a fire truck, ambulance, police car or someone cutting grass, they’re all results of the city’s public works division,” he says. “Citizens see services such as snow removal or street repair, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes.”
 
For example, the city’s fleet division does auto repairs in-house, rather than outsourcing those repairs. In 2009, the city contracted with KOI Auto Parts as its in-house auto parts vendor. The city used to spend $600,000-700,000 on parts, but by bringing KOI in-house, the cost is now about $350,000-400,000, says Tom Logan, director of public improvements.
 
“The fleet division keeps everything running smoothly and gets the vehicles back out on the street,” Klein says. “We’re not only saving money but time as well.”
 
DPI also recently replaced single-purpose trucks with dual-purpose models. Snow removal trucks, for example, were only used three or four months of the year. The dual-purpose trucks come with swap-loaders, which allows DPI to interchange the dump beds for other equipment. These trucks saved the city about $100,000, Logan says.
 
DPI is currently also involved in storm water improvements, renovations to Devou Park, riverfront development and the replacement of the Brent Spence Bridge.
 
“It’s guided by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Ohio Department of Transportation, but Covington has a strong stance and the ability to provide input in the decision-making process,” Logan says of the bridge planning. “It’s a very important project for the whole region because of the traffic that travels along I-71 and I-75. For Covington, we have to ensure that the connections to the bridge are maintained.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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On National Grilled Cheese Day, April 12, Tom+Chee founders Corey Ward and Trew Quackenbush announced to the public that they will be appearing on ABC’s Shark Tank. The show features entrepreneurs who pitch their ideas to famous and successful business leaders for investment opportunities.
 
Ward and Quackenbush started Tom+Chee with their wives, Jenny and Jenn, in 2009 when they served grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup to ice skaters at Fountain Square. A year later, they opened their first restaurant on Court Street; they opened a Tom+Chee at Newport on the Levee in 2011, and one on Walnut Street in 2012. They’ve also recently opened two locations in Louisville—a third is under construction—but they want to expand their brand beyond the Tri-State area.
 
On the show, Ward and Quackenbush will pitch Tom+Chee to Mark Cuban, media and sports, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks; Barbara Corcoran, real estate; Daymond John, fashion; Kevin O’Leary, educational software; and Robert Herjavec, technology. Their goal is to secure investment and take Tom+Chee global.
 
Tom+Chee has already been featured in an episode of Travel Channel’s Man v. Food Nation and two episodes of Amazing Eats, and its grilled cheese donut was named one of the Best Sandwiches in America by the TODAY show. It was also featured on CBS’s The Chew.
 
Look for Ward and Quackenbush on Shark Tank May 17 at 9 p.m.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Art appraiser and entrepreneur Morgan Cobb has a vision to turn innovation into an art form. What does that look like?

Imagine a sort of startup pitch day held at an art gallery with photo portraits of entrepreneurs overlaid with QR (Quick Response) codes that link viewers virtually to company founders. Imagine the real-time exchange of art, business and support.

That’s the idea behind “Disruptors, QRtifacts by Peiter Griga,” curated by Cobb, which opens April 26 at Covington’s Artisan Enterprise Center.

“The whole event was designed to encourage collaboration, participation and appreciation,” says Cobb, 28, who founded Newport’s Bryson Appraisals four years ago.

The exhibit started with a conversation between Cobb and fellow curator Cate Yellig, who took over as the city of Covington’s art director earlier this year. Yellig, who works at the intersection of economic development and arts programming, was in search of a way to bring together local entrepreneurs and artists, groups she believes have much in common.

“It was really kind of serendipitous,” Yellig says of the exhibit, which features 10 local startups that have a total of 12 founders, including nugg-it, BlackbookHR, Earthineer and GirlDevelopIt.

Cobb, who has degrees in art history and economics, had become engaged in the local startup ecosystem. She welcomed a chance to connect her two passions.

“Entrepreneurs face the same challenge as contemporary artists,” Cobb says. They strive to remain creative, relevant and “hip.” 

The startups featured in 'Disruptors' are in various stages of development. Some, like We Have Become Vikings, have achieved a level of notoriety, while others, like GamiGen, are less known. 

“They haven’t arrived yet, but they have all this potential to be cutting edge,” Cobb says.

In order to fully experience the opening, Cobb urges potential visitors to bring their smartphones. It will also help to visit
'Disruptors' online in advance and to download QR and Twitter apps. The event also includes a projection of a live Twitter feed.

“The Twitter feed is to encourage feedback and to broadcast the event to an audience that can’t be there,” says Cobb, who has invited venture capitalists and angel investors, as well as a DJ and performance artists, to the opening. 

Even as she works to give entrepreneurs a new platform to communicate their ideas, Cobb also incorporates artistic innovations that have already drawn interest from venues in Austin, Texas. Photographer Peiter Griga, a personal friend, started by photographing each of the entrepreneurs the old-fashioned way—on film.

He then prints the images by mixing silver nitrate with organic honey, which is, at the microscopic level, a living thing. The print process then mirrors how technology and life intertwine. “The media was an important component to the concept,” Cobb says. “It’s an artifact, but it’s still a living thing.”

Most of all, Cobb hopes the exhibit helps foster an understanding of the struggles and challenges faced by both artists and entrepreneurs, and an appreciation for their work.

“At the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want?” she asks.

With more than 15,000-square-feet of living space, a new Edgewood, Ky., home promises palatial touches during Northern Kentucky’s Home Builders Association’s Cavalcade of Homes, which will be held May 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19 from noon to 5 p.m.
 
“There is no house around like this one,” says Linda Cochran of Tim Burks Builder, Inc., the house’s project manager. “We’ve done things for this home that haven’t been done in this area before, such as the 30-foot wall of glass doors that fully retract from the house’s lounge onto the outdoor covered porch.”
 
The identity of the home’s owner is under wraps, but when Tim Burks Builder was awarded the project in 2011, they were presented with a wish list, which included a limestone façade, a slate roof, water features, a pool and pool house and a lounge bar.
 
“It’s been an exciting project,” says Tim Burks of Tim Burks Builder. “Everyone is doing a great job, and it’s going to be fantastic when it’s finished.”
 
There are only a handful of “estate-type” homes in Edgewood, and the 15,950-square-foot home on Turkeyfoot Road towers above its neighbors. It sits on seven acres, and is inspired by turn-of-the-century classic French Chateau estates.
 
Although the house is brand new, the owner wanted many of the details to give off the feel of a 200-year-old home. The wood beams in the lounge ceiling were hand-distressed to look like they’re hundreds of years old, says Grace Jones of Dwellings in O’Bryonville, the house’s interior designer.
 
The house boasts a home theater, billiard room, home gym, Bacarat crystal faucets in the master bathroom, Swarovski crystals on the custom foyer staircase and gas outdoor lights, just to name a few.
 
The Cavalcade of Homes is in its 50^th year. It will feature tours of a handful of new-build homes in Northern Kentucky, and a few of the builders will be available for questions. The event is free and open to the public.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Northern Kentucky University recently added two new bachelor degrees to its curriculum: a B.S. in Data Science and a B.A. in Special Education. NKU now offers 62 undergraduate degrees, 19 graduate degrees, 27 graduate certificates, a post-masters in educational leadership, two doctoral programs and a juris doctor.
 
The bachelor’s degree in Data Science, which will be offered through the College of Informatics, will be initiated this fall. Students will learn and develop skills for careers as data analysts, data science and systems engineers. To be accepted into the program, incoming students must have an ACT score of 25 or higher.
 
“There was a tremendous demand from the businesses our graduates end up working for,” says Dean of the College of Informatics Kevin Kirby. “At the national level, there was a need for big data professionals, and there weren't enough people to decipher big data. So we decided to add something in data science to meet that demand.”
 
NKU is offering a degree in data science at the undergraduate level, which is something that other universities don’t offer, says Kirby. There are graduate programs in business analytics, but the need for talent at the undergraduate level led NKU to develop the program at the bachelor’s level.
 
Beginning in fall 2014, the College of Education and Human Services will offer a B.A. in Special Education. The degree program will prepare NKU graduates for state certification to teach children in grades P-12 that have disabilities. In addition to being certified in elementary, middle school or secondary education, graduates will also be certified in special education for mild to moderate disabilities. The program will require students to obtain an additional teaching certificate.
 
Both degree programs will require 120 classroom hours for completion. Eight new classes will be developed for the data science degree; classes for the special education degree are already in place as part of an existing program.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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For 45 years, Bayer Becker’s civil and transportation engineers, landscape architects, planners and land surveyors have served the Tri-State area. And last month, the design firm opened an office in Over-the-Rhine.
 
“There’s a commitment to the urban core here in OTR, and we want to be part of it,” says Mike Dooley, an associate at Bayer Becker. “We want to be closer to the clients we work with and new talent.”
 
Founded in 1968 by Joseph Bayer and Keith “Sandy” Becker, the firm has served a variety of local and national clients and has consulted on projects in the public and private sectors. The OTR office is Bayer Becker’s fourth office in the Cincinnati area (its home office is in Mason, and there are smaller offices in Fort Mitchell, Ky., and Oxford, Ohio).
 
Bayer Becker’s new office is in the historic Saengerhalle building next to 3CDC and across the street from Washington Park. The firm looked at buildings in the Central Business District, but the opportunity arose in OTR to be near local architects and other design firms, says CFO and Vice President Tim Bayer, who is the son of founder Joseph Bayer.
 
“There are lots of businesses and entertainment here, which was very appealing to us,” Bayer says. “We want to be part of strengthening the community’s employment and aesthetic aspects.”
 
Currently, Bayer Becker is doing land surveying on several properties for 3CDC; they’re in the middle of the bidding process on a property in OTR near the casino. Yard House at The Banks was also a Bayer Becker project.
 
Bayer Becker wants to be a good business citizen and be active in the OTR Chamber of Commerce and be part of other business associations and endeavors in the business community, says Bayer. “Our goal is to continue to strengthen the community through employment, be part of celebrating client success and help improve downtown Cincinnati.”
 
The firm wants to help continue enriching the community, and later this month, they’ll be sponsoring the Urban Awakenings series, which focuses on four Cincinnati neighborhoods that are dedicated to revitalization and rejuvenation.
 
“We want to help OTR be a model for other communities,” Dooley says.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Although there won’t be a West Sixth Brewing taproom or beer garden in the Cincinnati area, beer lovers will still be able to buy the new brewery’s beer around town.
 
West Sixth opened in Lexington on April 1, and founders Ben Self, Brady Barlow, Joe Kuosman and Robin Sither have already seen the demand for their beer go through the roof. “We’ve had people drive down from the Cincinnati area just to buy our beer,” Self says.
 
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area was the last part of Kentucky that West Sixth added to its distribution network—the taproom and beer garden are in Lexington, and West Sixth’s beer is available in Louisville, too.
 
The quartet has heard from lots of retailers, bars and restaurants that they’re excited to be getting West Sixth’s brews, Self says. West Sixth beer became available locally about two weeks ago. The brewery kicked off its expansion at Cincy Winter Beerfest, which featured the West Sixth IPA and Deliberation Amber.
 
West Sixth does things a bit differently than other breweries, Self says. It’s the only brewery in Kentucky to can its beers; and Self and his co-founders are not only committed to brewing great beer, but to giving back to the community. They give six percent of the brewery’s monthly profits to local charities and nonprofits to support environmental packaging efforts and rehabilitation projects in Lexington.
 
You can order West Sixth’s beer at Gordo’s Pub in Norwood and Bakersfield in Over-the-Rhine. You can also purchase it at:

• Party Source
• Liquor City
• Party Town
• DEPs
• I-75 Liquors
• Valley Wine and Spirits
• United Liquor
• Hyde Park Wine and Spirits
• Root Cellar
• Listing Loon
• Gramer’s Meat and Produce
• Country Fresh Farm Market
• One Stop Liquors
• Luckie’s Pony Keg
• Antone’s Wine and Spirits
• Bluegrass Carryout
• Churchill Market
• City Beverage

By Caitlin Koenig
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Good things come in small batches, whether its bourbon, beer or branding, says Keith Neltner, the native Kentuckian who has made a name for himself as a designer and filmmaker and darling of the latest Cincinnati ADDY Awards. (Soapbox profiled him last year.)

On the heels of winning an unprecedented three out of four Judge’s Choice awards at this year’s ADDY Awards, he's launching Neltner Small Batch, a venture that allows him to base all of his operations out of his renovated farmhouse studio next door to his home and two doors down from his family’s farm in Camp Springs, Ky.

It also allows Neltner to become a work-at-home dad for his 7-year-old and 3-year-old.

"I've noticed 'family' being a theme in a lot of my work recently," Neltner says. "They're little for such a short time."

Neltner Farms has been his home for his entire life and plays a large role in his identity. The land has been in his family since before the Civil War. That history inspires Neltner Small Batch’s manifesto: “Farming is hard. Sweat is religion. Art is blood.”

Known for his rustic aesthetic and acclaimed work with a wide range of artists (Hank Williams III, Shooter Jennings) and brands (Procter & Gamble, Wrigley’s), Neltner remains true to his well-established roots. “My dad taught me to work hard and be honest,” he says.

One of Neltner Small Batch’s first projects illustrates the connections Neltner continues to make between art, life, hard work and passion. “Black Mule is a brand we're developing in Camp Springs that will release limited edition products,” Neltner says. “Farm tables, pottery, apparel...all made in Kentucky, sourced by local artisans.”

By Sean Peters

Jean-François Flechet opened Taste of Belgium in Findlay Market in 2007; four years ago, he expanded his restaurant venture to Columbus’s North Market, and a year and a half ago, he opened a full-service Belgian bistro on Vine. In the next few months, there will be two new Taste of Belgiums in the Cincinnati area—a full-service restaurant on Short Vine near UC, and a waffle counter at Friendly Market in Northern Kentucky.
 
The Short Vine location is on the first floor of a brand new building that includes 120 apartments. The waffle counter at Friendly Market is the only food vendor in the first phase of the market. It’s right on the edge of phase 2, which is ideal for future expansion, Flechet says.
 
Taste of Belgium on Short Vine will have a menu very similar to the one on Vine Street, says Flechet. But it will have more affordable options at dinnertime, such as chicken and waffles and bar food.
 
“There will be a bigger focus on the bar, with both Belgian and Belgian-style beer sourced from local breweries,” he says. Flechet wants to attract the college students who live around Short Vine, which is a different demographic than his customers at the bistro and Findlay Market.
 
Taste of Belgium is slated to open in early May at Friendly Market, and on Short Vine during the first week of July.
 
Flechet isn’t going the traditional route for financing his new business ventures. Instead, he’s working with local crowd-sourcing start-up SoMoLend to raise a portion of the funds for the restaurant. He wants to promote crowd-sourced funding as a viable alternative source of financing for small businesses.
 
“When I opened Taste of Belgium on Vine, it was hard to get financing,” says Flechet. He wasn’t able to obtain a loan from the bank, but the building’s landlord got one through 3CDC. In turn, the landlord charges high rent to recover the loan. The North Market location was financed by a loan from a small business lender who Flechet has been working with for four years.
 
SoMoLend connects small business owners who are in need of a loan with investors who are looking to make a return on their investments. The organization allows borrowers to get loans from customers, friends and family members. It allows lenders to make a difference on a more local level.
 
“SoMoLend has been promoted on a national level, but not much on a local level,” Flechet says. He’s trying to get the word out to his customers that he’s using SoMoLend and bring more users to the lending service.
 
The Taste of Belgium crowd-sourcing campaign launches March 11. If you want to contribute to the campaign and are a customer, friend or family member, sign up on SoMoLend’s website.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Russian-based Unipack Group, a full-service glass container decorating and packaging company that has served the alcohol beverage industry since 1995, is expanding into the United States. Westpack, a new branch of Unipack, will soon have a plant in Covington.
 
Currently, Kentucky is home to about 420 internationally based companies from 30 countries that employ about 80,000 people.
 
“With decoration plants in Russia and Europe, expanding into the U.S. market was a natural next step,” Westpack Managing Director Simon Mnoyan said in a press release. “And selecting the right state for our production was a function of customer logistics, business operating costs and quality of life. The Commonwealth of Kentucky provided and met all three requirements for our expansion. We would like to express our gratitude to the Commonwealth and the City of Covington for guidance and support in our endeavor.”
 
Westpack will mainly serve bourbon, spirits and wine producers, and the perfume and cosmetic industries, but the company will also produce promotional tumblers and other items for the tableware industry, according to Sam Popianksy, director of business development for Westpack, in a press release.
 
The company’s services include screen printing, etching and frosting, electrostatic and liquid organic spray coating, automated hot stamping, PSL and decal application.
 
Unipack’s expansion will create 63 new, full-time jobs and will represent a $4.49 million investment in Northern Kentucky. The 126,000-square-foot facility at 200 W. 43^rd Street in Covington’s Latonia neighborhood isn’t on the riverfront, but in a residential area with retail and other industries.
 
Not only is Westpack creating jobs, but it’s making use of an existing, vacant building. “The redeveloped building will hopefully attract new companies to the area and breathe new life into the market,” says Karen Finan, senior VP at Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation.
 
Construction is to begin on the Westpack plant this spring.
 
Interested in working at Westpack? Send your resume to: sunny.saloman@west-pack.com.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Did you recently buy a historic home and need help getting renovations underway? Or do you want to learn more about living green? Then NKY Restoration Weekend is for you.
 
The second annual Restoration Weekend is from 9 am to 5 pm on Feb. 23 at the Gateway Community and Technical College's Urban Campus in Covington. The event will feature many opportunities for historic home owners, including classes and demonstrations on how to make historic houses and surrounding property more energy efficient and sustainable; researching historic homes; utilizing the Kentucky homeowner’s rehabilitation tax credit; Rookwood tile history and maintenance; historic ironwork; window restoration; plaster; masonry repair and maintenance ask the expert.
 
There will also be a vendor fair with more than 20 booths featuring craftsmen and contractors that represent all aspects of the renovation process.
 
“The weekend is about combining sustainable and green practices with historic homes,” says Beth Johnson, preservation and planning specialist for the City of Covington. “The vendors are a huge part of the event, and helps connect homeowners with good products and contractors.”
 
But Johnson says the highlight of the event is the keynote speakers, Matt Grocoff. He’s a nationally known TV personality who turned a 100-year-old folk Victorian house into net zero, which means it’s historically sensitive, but doesn’t use energy.
 
“There’s such an amazing stock of historic homes in Northern Kentucky and the surrounding area, and people need to be responsible homeowners and be better stewards of historic homes,” Johnson says. “DIY is really big, and they need to know the proper ways to do things.” 
 
The event is partially funded by the Certified Local Government grant that’s given to the cities of Bellevue, Covington and Newport from the National Park Service and administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council.
 
NKY Restoration is an unincorporated association and collaboration of businesses, artisans and craftsmen, nonprofit organizations, cities and the Historic Preservation offices in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
 
The event is free, but reservations are requested to ensure a spot at the keynote luncheon.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Northern Kentucky University students across disciplines will come together for 24 hours to tackle a real-world business challenge during the first 24 Hours of Mobile Innovation Contest.

Up to 70 students are expected to collaborate in this fast-paced tech challenge, starting the evening of Feb. 8 at NKU's Griffin Hall in the College of Informatics.

The event is being organized by the College of Informatics and the Haile/US BANK College of Business in partnership with businesses TechAllies and MindCrate.

Without spilling the secret of the exact challenge, NKU Business Informatics Professor Teuta Cata says students will work to solve an actual business challenge that could be put into use. Students will get some guidance as they begin to create, design and code the mobile app. Broad guidelines for the app are that it will improve daily activity and business processes or develop a new game idea.

"There will be teams of students who are earning a lot of different degrees here at NKU, because we need a variety of skills," Cata says.

There will be a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students who'll work on everything from the back end to the interface to marketing and communications. Each team member should have the following technology skills: Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint; and experience with the Internet and different mobile devices. Each team should have at least one team member with a basic understanding of project management, database and data communication, among others skills.

They'll have 24-hours to meet the challenge. The awards ceremony starts at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9.

Cata says she got the idea for the event after watching a Cincinnati Startup Weekend event, where local entrepreneurs work for 54 hours over three days to create a startup company.

"I thought this was a great idea for students to get involved with," she says.

Outstanding students will have the opportunity to interview with TechAllies for a chance at a paid internship with the consulting company.

Written by Feoshia H. Davis
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PizzaBomba, a Northern Kentucky food truck, is no longer just on four wheels. As of Dec. 26, PizzaBomba opened its doors to its permanent location on E. Fifth Street in Covington. Both the food truck and the store serve New York-style pizza, made with homemade dough and sauces and local ingredients.
 
PizzaBomba’s owner, Bill Stone, put himself through college bartending and waiting tables at a high-end Italian restaurant in Rochester, NY. He’s also worked in Cincinnati restaurants and been trained in food and beverage management.
 
Stone and his partner Terri Wilson, who helps with PizzaBomba when she can, began their food truck last March 30. After their fast success, a storefront seemed like the next logical step, says Stone.
 
If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, the Load of BS pizza is topped with homemade pizza sauce, Brussels sprout leaves, bacon and ricotta cheese. PizzaBomba also serves salads, sandwiches (atop homemade bread) and pasta skillets. Customers keep coming back for the Bangin’ Elvis sandwich, which is topped with creamy Thai peanut butter, pepper jelly and bacon, says Stone.
 
Stone currently employs four people, and once PizzaBomba’s POS system is completely up and running, they’ll start delivery service to Covington, Newport, Bellevue, downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine to Liberty Street. PizzaBomba is still waiting on its beer-only license from the state, but they’ll soon serve local brews and a few higher-end microbrews.
 
The restaurant is open Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you’re looking for the food truck, make sure to follow PizzaBomba on Facebook and Twitter to find its daily location.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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