Kroger's third Kitchen 1883 to open in November

Dive Brief:

Kroger has announced an opening date for its third Kitchen 1883 restaurant, which will open adjacent to the grocer's Anderson Township, Ohio, store in mid-November, according to Cincinnati Business Courier. Kroger did not immediately respond to Grocery Dive's request for confirmation.
The company originally planned to open the location in fall 2018 but encountered construction delays, Kroger told the Cincinnati Business Courier last October. The restaurant, which is Kroger's first standalone concept, launched in 2017 in Union, Kentucky.
Kitchen 1883 is now hiring for bartenders, hosts and cooks. It features hand-crafted cocktails and a made-from-scratch menu including sandwiches and entrees.

Dive Insight:

The Anderson Township location was originally slotted to be Kroger's second Kitchen 1883 but because of construction delays, it will now be the third, following the opening of the second Kitchen 1883 in Kroger's new downtown Cincinnati "Kroger on the Rhine" store.

Kroger’s Kitchen 1883 appears to be popular, with Nation’s Restaurant News awarding the banner a Menu Trendsetter award and Yelp showing largely positive reviews. With 2,800 stores across 35 states, Kroger could potentially expand the Kitchen 1883 concept across the country, but it has remained quiet about what the future plan is for the restaurant.

The retailer has pursued several other grocerant endeavors including adding a Pork & Mindy’s barbeque mini-restaurant to its Mariano’s banners and bringing Ohio-based Rapid Fire Pizza to its Marketplace stores. The new Kroger on the Rhine includes a food hall with 100 seats and five different restaurants. The company also maintains a test kitchen at its Culinary Innovation Center in Cincinnati.

Other grocers see opportunity to diversify their standard supermarket offerings with in-store eateries as well. Hy-Vee operates its upscale Market Grille restaurant concept and is also opening 26 Wahlburgers restaurants adjacent to Hy-Vee stores. H-E-B, Whole Foods, Meijer and Wegmans each offer a number of in-store dining experiences at various locations.