After almost a year the J&G Pizza Palace expansion is nearing completion. Plans call for the new Dallas Tap Room adjacent to the restaurant to open by the end of summer.
Patrons will find an extended menu including an array of appetizers along with the traditional J&G favorites.  In addition, a full complement of cocktails and wines will be available accompanying the Upside Brewing selections, along other local and regional craft beers.

According to Nick Dallas, extensive renovations have been made to the new space while retaining  as much of the character of the building as possible. The original tin ceiling has been cleaned and painted but the flooring had to be replaced. A back wall was removed creating a lounge area adjacent to the 26-foot bar that extends along the brick wall. Another door on the Maplewood Avenue side of the building leads to the outdoor patio seating under the awning.

The Tap Room will be open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, noon through 11 pm on Tuesday through Thursday, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.  The Tap Room will be closed on Sunday and Monday. Hours for J&G’s Pizza Palace remain the same, open daily from 4 to 10 pm Sunday through Thursday and until 11 pm on Friday and Saturday.
The expanded space will add seating for 60 patrons in addition to the 56-seat capacity for J&G’s Pizza Palace.

“We have been planning this expansion for a long time, and we are all very excited to open the new Tap Room,” Dallas reported. “And of course, we are hiring additional staff.”
His parents, Mark and Jill Dallas, have a long history with the downtown eatery, which was opened by Jim and Georgia Kalaharis in the fall of 1971. It soon became a favorite spot for area junior high and high school students after football games as well as the adult crowd every night of the week.
In 1973, a young Mark Dallas started working in the restaurant industry. After working in several other eateries, he and his father Pandelis Dallas offered to buy J&G Pizza from Kalaharis. The younger Dallas began working in the restaurant in 1978 to prepare for ownership and the sale was complete in 1979.

Through the years very little has changed. “I tweaked the recipes a bit in the early days,” Mark Dallas admitted. “But, for the most part, our menu remains the same.”
That menu includes a thin crust pizza with options for a variety of traditional pizza toppings; Gyros featuring beef and lamb may be purchased as a sandwich or platter; chicken, steak, or lamb shish kabobs are available;  spaghetti is offered in small and large sizes; and small and large Greek or tossed salads are also available. Diners may top their meal off with baklava or cheesecake for dessert.

Nick Dallas grew up at J&G’s Pizza Palace and began working in his dad’s restaurant at an early age. While he and his wife, Melissa, continue to be involved and work regularly behind the J&G counter, seven years ago they introduced Upside Brewing and made their first pour on Sept. 14, 2016.
Dallas had been home brewing for family and friends for a few years. It was a fun hobby, and then he became more serious and began brewing at his family’s business, which eventually turned J&G’s into also being a brewpub. He and his wife are both very involved in the brewing process.
J&G Pizza Palace and Upside Brewing, 5692 N. Main  St., are in a building constructed in 1907. The building has been home to a dog shop, multiple beauty salons, drug stores and a dry goods store in the past.

The adjacent building  at 5694 N. Main St. was home to Western Auto Associate Store, McIlwain Antiques, Sylvania Paper Cellar Decorating Center, Kevin Charles Salon, and California Yoga.
Prior to 1907, there was a residential home with an attached physician’s office on the property occupied by Dr. Thomas T. and Harriett Cosgrove from 1865 to 1889. From 1889 to 1907, George and Anna Lovewell owned the property. An article in the Toledo Critic newspaper of 1903 said, “Frank Koepfer has leased the George Lovewell buildings, selling farming implements of the most improved kind.”

The Sylvania Savings Bank purchased the property in 1907 and demolished the structures in order to construct the current two-story building. The bank built the building so that they could occupy the north side, while renting out the south side of the building, the basement, and the second floor. In 1940 the Sylvania Savings Bank merged with the Farmers and Merchants Bank and at that time they moved down to the building where Key Bank is located today (5604 Main). They sold their bank building here in 1940 to Murl E. Boyd. Then Ardis A. Moyer acquired the building in 1966 and then in 1968 the building was sold to Robert and Sue Yee.  In 2000 the building was transferred to Damon and Deborah Yee, and in 2003 transferred into the name of Yee Properties LLC., which is the listed current owner at this time.
Property information came from local historian Gayleen Gindy.