The Mentor Planning Commission on Nov. 6 approved conditional use permits to allow outdoor dining and a drive‑through for Giant Panda Market & Cafe at 777 Manor Avenue.
Dion Sampat, LS Architects, said the owner purchased the former bank building to operate a Korean grocery and a Panda Cafe and that the cafe will offer drinks, coffees, matcha, Korean corn dogs and other Korean‑inspired sandwiches. Sampat described a small covered patio designed to match the building’s architecture, with stone columns and a small outdoor fireplace, that the owner seeks to use for outdoor patrons.
On the drive‑through, Sampat said the proposal would reuse the bank’s vehicle circulation but reverse the direction so the driver’s side will be adjacent to the pick‑up window. He told commissioners the location will typically have four employees on duty and that parking stalls on the west side of the site are intended for employees to allow customer cars to stack behind them; the proposal includes a menu board at the lane.
Administration (Larry) advised the commission that the staff report lists three conditions for each conditional use permit. Commissioners discussed sequencing of the two items and reconfirmed the outdoor‑dining vote to ensure the record was clear.
Motions to approve both the outdoor dining and the drive‑through were made and seconded. The roll call votes recorded the following: Mister Perkovich — yes; Mister Rossetti — yes; Mister Tiedemann — yes; Mister Varga — yes; Mister Crocker — yes; Mister Hadden — yes; Mister Cook — yes. Both motions passed unanimously.
The approvals permit the cafe to proceed with the small covered patio and to operate a drive‑through subject to the staff‑recommended conditions listed in the planning department report.
The planning commission’s action is a final administrative permit decision; no council referral was recorded on the record for these conditional use permits.
Dining and Cooking