Columbus Business First: Beef ‘O’ Brady’s has big plans for Central Ohio after taking over region’s only location

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is eyeing the Midwest for expansion, and its Hilliard-area restaurant will be the key to spurring that growth. The Tampa-based chain of casual sports bars recently acquired the only location in the Columbus market, and will be remodeling the restaurant as the Midwest’s training and testing hub.

“It’s unusual for us to step that far out of our corporate base, but we saw this an opportunity to come in and grow this market,” Joe Uhl, COO of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, told Columbus Business First.

“We’ll be able to do training here so everyone doesn’t have to go down to Tampa.”

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s has 209 restaurants in 23 states including 10 company-owned units in Tampa and Tallahassee, Florida. The brand has seen success in the Midwest with its restaurants in the Cincinnati-Dayton area, northeast Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky, and sees Columbus as the next step.

“Whether it is us or a franchisees, we expect to see another three or four around Columbus,” Uhl added.

And, Beef O’ Brady’s sister company, The Brass Tap*, a craft beer-focused bar, is also expanding in the Columbus market, including a location that opened this month in Polaris. It has 26 open locations with another 70 committed to by franchisees.