Two homegrown Columbus fast-casual franchises are opening locations on Ohio State University's campus soon to cater to a student audience for the first time.
Mikey's Late Night Slice and Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace have not opened campus-area locations before, but have now started building out new brick-and-mortar locations. Mikey's is in the same building as OSU President Ted Carter on the corner of North High and 15th streets. Dirty Frank's recently started building out a spot on North High Street near Woodruff Avenue.
Both franchises have been expanding in recent years. Mikey's just opened another location at Easton and Bridge Park, while Dirty Frank's operates in Lower.com Field.
Mikey Sorboro founded the pizza chain in 2008. He said concerns about students not being on campus year round are a reason why he didn't open on campus before. But, Sorboro said he expects success.
"I think the timing's right, the concept's right for us. We made it out of Covid. We're just really set up to knock this one out of the park," Soboro said.
Sorboro said it was always a misconception that they had a store on campus, but he is glad they are finally pulling the trigger to bring it closer to OSU students.
"We've always been either above campus in kind of like the old North area or in the Short North, but never on campus proper," he said.
Dirty Frank's did not respond to a request for comment.
Sorboro said he is glad to see his business isn't the only one coming to campus. Both brands are already neighbors in downtown Columbus and at the Hollywood Casino.
"Now we get to be neighbors again here on campus. So, yeah, it's been fun. And they're good friends of ours," Sorboro said.
The new Mikey's has a pizza counter to order from, in addition to a wider restaurant area and a wraparound bar. It's complete with swing set chairs, garage doors to open on sunny days and pop art like old signage and lighting sets from the original dine-in Pizza Hut restaurants.
Sorboro said they've always been a good fit for campuses. He said the bar at this location could be treated differently than other locations and there could be discounts on drinks or food depending on the day of the week.
"It's actually a destination that kids are going to come to. They're going to party and they're going to have a really fun time. And it's going to fill that hole of pizza by the slice as well," he said.
