Tony D’s, a long-awaited restaurant in New Palestine, opened this week. Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023.
NEW PALESTINE — The long-awaited opening of a new restaurant took place this week in the southern part of the county where some businesses haven’t had the best of luck in keeping their doors open.
After several delays due to construction shortages and other reasons, Tony D’s officially opened their doors Tuesday, Jan. 24 with breakfast. The owner, Dennis Beikman held a practice run earlier this month and didn’t see the results he wanted, so he held off on officially opening the restaurant until this week.
“It’s been a long time coming and we’re hoping to God, it’s going to be great,” Beikman said.
The opening of Tony D’s, which broke ground on the site at the corner of U.S. 52 and Mt. Comfort Rd., way back in October 2021, has been needed community and town officials say.
“The need is there for sure,” New Palestine town manager, Jim Robinson said. “There is a lot of interest from people around here for a place to sit-down and eat a meal locally.”
The restaurant will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. However Beikman noted, they’ll open up seven days a week once he can hire a few more cooks and the people trained.
Tony D’s offers a full breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert menu, as well as a full bar. It’s located behind Needler’s grocery store and is within a stone’s throw of the new Taco Bell. The menu features a full breakfast menu and a large selection of sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads, pasta, burgers and entree dishes for lunch and dinner.
“I’m very pleased with the building, the final product, how everything has turned out,” Beikman said.
While people are excited and seem to be prepared to support the new business, which is employing over 40 people, it’s been a colder market for other small business owners in the area.
Two smaller businesses, Brew 52 and 3:17 Beans & Donuts, both closed operations over the past couple of months. Brew 52 had to shut its doors at 4346 South 500W. because they constantly had issues with finding enough workers.
“I’m not sure what all happened with Brew 52,” Robinson said. “They had good sandwiches and soups, but they had issues with keeping staff.”
Brew 52 officials repeatedly posted on social media of their need for help and had inconsistent hours due to the lack of workers. The owner ended up shutting the doors for good in late 2022.
“In order to properly serve our community and do it correctly and consistently, we have decided to close the next couple weeks and get our staffing issues fixed,” the owner wrote in the fall.
They opened back up for a little while in November but closed for good shortly after.
The owner of 3:17 Beans & Donuts, Keith Oliver, sold his spot at 5933 U.S. 52 to a different business owner, Tia’s Food and Drink Restaurant, back in September — just eight months after the business opened.
“We sold it to Tia’s Restaurant. They still do coffee and donuts but have added more breakfast and lunch food,” Oliver said.
That establishment offers a fresh scratch menu and has been welcomed by community members who are constantly posting positive reviews for the eatery, which is planning a kitchen renovation to add more service. Oliver is now the co-owner of Norman’s Lawn Maintenance, he said.
