Owners of Carmelo’s opening American chop house in old Frisch’s building in Fort Wright

Owners of Carmelo’s opening American chop house in old Frisch’s building in Fort Wright

FORT WRIGHT, Ky. —

The owners of a popular Northern Kentucky Italian restaurant have announced plans to open a new restaurant in the old Frisch’s Big Boy building in Fort Wright.

Billy Grise and Mitch Arens, the co-owners of Carmelo’s in Covington, will be opening an American chop house at 20 Kyles Lane in Fort Wright.

“Building restaurants for the people and community around us is what we love doing,” Grise said in a press release announcing the new restaurant. “We’re channeling old-school hospitality in a historic building, and giving the people of Fort Wright a place to escape to again.”

The building at 20 Kyles Lane was home to Fort Wright’s Frisch’s until moved to Orphanage Road in August.

Grise and Arens opened Carmelo’s on Madison Avenue in November 2024. USA Today readers voted it the No. 2 best new restaurant in January 2025.

The restaurant, whose name was not announced in a press release, will seat 160 people and feature an outdoor patio.

Grise and Arens are planning to open the new restaurant this winter, but a specific date has not yet been determined.