Officials break ground for King Corona, a big Latin restaurant going in the Spooky Nook complex
Oct. 23—The ownership group behind the planned King Corona Latin Kitchen and Cantina at Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill is investing heavily in the region.
The Hamilton King Corona will be the second, with the first already open in West Chester Twp.: Sonora Seafood Steak Bar & Grill. King Corona will be the ownership group's most massive: a two-story restaurant with a double-deck patio on the northern end of the Spooky Nook sports complex. The project will take about six to eight months to complete, and ground was broken today, Oct. 23.
"It's going to knock people's socks off," said Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dan Bates when the restaurant announcement was made. "It will make Spooky Nook a destination point every day of the week, not just for sporting events."
During the tournament season this past spring and summer, tens of thousands of people descended on the yet-to-be-completed Spooky Nook complex, which hosts sporting events and related activities on the west side of North B Street and the Champion Mill Conference Center and Warehouse Hotel on the east side.
Bates said the restaurant will add to the dining options with high-end Latin cuisine, but it will be more than that.
"They'll have high-quality food and drinks but also entertainment," he said. "They'll be focused on creating an experience for their diners."
The restaurant group is more than just King Corona, as they soon will own 19 El Rancho Grande locations (the 19th to open in the next several months in the Batavia area) and the recently opened Sonora Grill Steak and Seafood on Union Centre Pavillion in West Chester Twp.
"I think it's a great experience we have," said Arturo Magana, the restaurant group's managing partner and co-owner, of the Sonora Grill and other restaurants.
He believes the King Corona locations at 9421 Civic Centre Blvd. in West Chester and North B Street in Hamilton "are strong" and "can do well."
Nathan Taylor, a King Corona co-owner, said the Hamilton location will be "massive," as it's expected to be 14,000-plus square feet, nearly three times the size of the West Chester Twp. location.
"It's going to be two stories, a double-deck patio," he said of the Hamilton King Corona. "It's going to be huge."
Construction will take 6 to 8 months as they expect an opening in the summer or fall of 2024.
"It's a great city, it's a great population," Magana said of Hamilton. "We hear great things about it, and (the city) is growing up, too. You see things pop up everywhere."
Taylor said they're most excited to bring new jobs to the city as well as being a part of the Spooky Nook project.
Bates said when you have somebody who operates a lot of restaurants, they have their pick of locations as "they've already shown they know what they're doing and how to create success."
"To choose Hamilton, it's a pretty big deal," he said. "To choose Hamilton to showcase a 14,000-plus-square-foot restaurant is huge, and that's not the only site they're potentially interested in. They could have multiple locations in Hamilton. For them to have that confidence in where Hamilton's going, it's really exciting."
Magana and Taylor did not share any future Hamilton investment plans with the Journal-News, but Taylor, who serves as marketing director for the ownership group's other restaurant properties, said they plan to grow in the region. They have plans for a project in Fairfield, though he couldn't release details at this time, and they plan to expand upon the opening of the Dayton El Asadero Bar and Mexican Grill (the group does not own the Forest Park and Lexington, Ky., locations).
