New Mafia-themed restaurant and bar opens in Columbus area

The owner of the Grilled Cheese Gangsters food truck has unveiled a new Mafia-themed brick and mortar.

According to co-owner Jason Rosebrough, who operates the concept alongside Jon Groothuis, Mugshots Bar & Grill, held its grand opening last week.

The eatery is located at 111 S. Main St. in Pleasantville, just over 30 minutes from Downtown Columbus, inside the former home of Pacer’s Italian Cuisine & Steakery.

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According to Rosebrough, he thought up the concept while serving in the Navy in Afghanistan more than 20 years ago. He decided to launch a version of the concept in Grilled Cheese Gangsters, which opened several years in the Pleasantville area.

“I had the idea for the restaurant way before the food truck, and once we opened those and they started crushing it, I knew we could make it work,” he said.

Rosebrough and his wife, Lisa Rosebrough launched Grilled Cheese Gangsters together in 2019, and grew the concept into the two-truck operation it is today.

Rosebrough said he initially thought to make the new eatery a brick and mortar extension of his food trucks, but decided to keep the concepts separate, although they share similar themes and Mugshots offers a few Grilled Cheese Gangsters’ favorites on its menu.

The food side of the new eatery is run by veteran Columbus chef Dawn Merriman, offering a variety of burgers, sandwiches and Italian-inspired main courses, in addition to desserts, cocktails and more.

“The only thing that isn’t house-made is tater tots, ice cream and ketchup. We do everything, down to making our own mayo and hand-picking vegetables,” Rosebrough said. “You don’t typically see that in Pleasantville, Ohio.”

Mugshots is open 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-midnight Friday, 2 p.m.-midnight Saturday and 2-9 p.m. Sunday.

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