Salazar restaurant will take over Saks building, but bad news for Goose & Elder fans

Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

A building once known for expensive clothing and other luxury items will soon be the new home of one of Cincinnati's most popular restaurants.

Salazar, the beloved Over-the-Rhine restaurant that closed last November, will relocate the former Saks Fifth Avenue building, Downtown, by the spring of 2025. Owner Jose Salazar – a 2024 finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef-Great Lakes Region – signed a lease for the 8,300-square-foot ground floor property, which is owned by Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. The restaurant will be located below Paycor’s new headquarters on the second floor. The new Salazar will feature three private dining rooms and a menu that will include many Salazar classics with an added emphasis on seafood.

An artist's rendering of the remodeled Saks Fifth Avenue building, which will serve as the new home of Salazar restaurant.
An artist's rendering of the remodeled Saks Fifth Avenue building, which will serve as the new home of Salazar restaurant.

“We had a lot of constraints in the Republic Street space due to its size,” Salazar said in a press release. “Weoutgrew it. The new, larger space opens up a world of possibilities as far as what we can do,and we’re taking full advantage. It’s going to feel more grown up – more refined and polished.”

With the opening of Salazar also comes the sad news that the chef will be shuttering another one of his restaurants, Goose & Elder, which Salazar opened near Findlay Market in 2019. According to the press release, Salazar said closing Goose & Elder was the best way to concentrate his energies on opening Safi, the new Moroccan wine bar he opened Saturday in the former Salazar space, while building out Salazar 2.0 and operating his other Cincinnati restaurants, Mita's (Downtown) and Daylily (Columbia-Tusculum). Goose & Elder will remain open through the middle of this month, closing for good on June 15.

Jose Salazar recently opened a new wine bar, known as Safi, it the former Salazar space.
Jose Salazar recently opened a new wine bar, known as Safi, it the former Salazar space.

“Salazar was one of the first restaurants to really put OTR on the culinary map, so we couldn’t be more excited to see it revived in a new, larger space,” said Lindzie Gunnels, the director of commercial leasing for 3CDC, in the release. “With Paycor relocating its headquarters to the former Saks building, and Salazar joining them on the ground floor, we can’t wait to see this area brought back to life, and the integral role it will play in connecting the Convention District to Fountain Square.”

Jose Salazar and his wife, Ann Salazar, attend the James Beard Awards in Chicago.
Jose Salazar and his wife, Ann Salazar, attend the James Beard Awards in Chicago.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Salazar restaurant to open in Cincinnati's Saks Fifth Avenue building