Downtown diner working to reopen

A downtown Columbus diner that opened in May is temporarily closed and will reopen under new ownership in the next week.

Steamy’s, at the corner of 12^th Street and First Avenue, closed this week. Former owner Todd Kinney sold the business to Jerry Averill.

The restaurant, which operates out of a leased space, had to close during the ownership change so a new business license and Health Department and Columbus Fire and EMS inspections could be scheduled, Averill said.

Also, Averill is closing his existing restaurant, The Dancing Pig Barebecue at 3709 Gentian Blvd., and relocating to downtown. Averill said he plans to keep the Steamy’s name and the dinner concept.

“We are working pretty hard and hope to be open sometime next week,” Averill said Wednesday afternoon.

The original plan was to make the change of ownership seamless with no disruption in business, but that was not possible, Averill said.

The new owner said he would like to bring barbecue into the menu mix, but that will take time.

“We are going to work on that, but we have the equipment,” Averill said.

Kinney began his venture in January, taking almost four months to change the decor and complete the build out.

“It really was a time for a change of direction for me,” Kinney said after operating the restaurant for less than six months. “It is hard to work at a business, then be involved in another business at same time.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Downtown diner working to reopen."