Sabor Cubano Opens in Radcliff, Papa John's #3, Fuel Fortress

Key Takeaways

• Sabor Cubano opened its first brick-and-mortar this morning (Tuesday, ~10:30 AM) at 359 South Wilson Road in Radcliff — the former Fed Up Barbecue space, now painted white. Cuban sandwiches, empanadas, rice bowls, and catering. (270) 723-8822, @SaborCubanoKY on Facebook and Instagram.
• Papa John's #3 is now open in the 62 Food Mart building across from Ride-Wright Tire, off Highway 62 near Central Hardin — and Nate confirmed it will cover West Hardin Middle School, BlueOval, and Highway 222, areas with no prior Papa John's delivery.
• Fuel Fortress — the sign is up at the former JoAnn Fabrics box between Malibu Jack's and El Tapatio in Elizabethtown. It's a serious gym with a regional footprint, currently hiring a general manager; build-out is underway, with an opening probably this summer.
• Green Releaf — a medical marijuana dispensary is targeting an opening this month at the corner unit of Mulberry Square (near Bargain Hunt, Batteries Plus, Bloom Bakery, Subway). Card, verification, and clearance required — this is NOT a walk-up store.
• A big consignment auction in Upton Saturday morning — trucks, farm and construction equipment, campers, golf carts, even a bus. Online or in-person bidding. The Elizabethtown Planning Commission meets tonight with nothing major on the business side.

Summary

Nate Bryan led Business Buzz with the rarest possible local-business story: a restaurant that had opened its doors about two hours before the show went live. Sabor Cubano — a couple's first storefront after roughly two years on a Hardin County food truck — opened this morning at the old Fed Up Barbecue building on South Wilson Road in Radcliff, and it set up a cross-segment thread, because Britten and Michele McDowell were there at the opening and bring the full Experienced Eater reaction later in the episode.

From there: Papa John's third Hardin County location went from sign to open and now covers three previously underserved areas. Fuel Fortress is gutting the old JoAnn Fabrics box and hiring up. A Green Releaf medical marijuana dispensary is targeting a Mulberry Square opening this month — with Nate stressing, more than once, that it is not a walk-up store. Plus a big consignment auction Saturday in Upton and a quiet Elizabethtown planning meeting tonight.

Watch this segment: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1274870528192675 Full episode: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1292842119668042

Full Article

Nate opened in Radcliff. Sabor Cubano — the Cuban and Puerto Rican spot at 359 South Wilson Road, in the building that used to be the yellow Fed Up Barbecue — opened this morning at around 10:30 AM. Nate was actually there earlier than that: "I went inside today at around 10:30. They just opened right after I left, unfortunately — they were not open when I went there, but they did offer me a sandwich. I just turned it down because it was too early for me to eat. But that's why we have Britt — because he's eaten there already." The building's been repainted (Nate liked the new look — "it looks a lot nicer"), and the focus is Cuban sandwiches, empanadas, rice bowls, and catering. He photographed what he called "that huge biggie" — the Cuban sandwich — and noted the prices looked reasonable. Reach them at (270) 723-8822 or @SaborCubanoKY on Facebook and Instagram (same handle for both).

For Nate, the story is the food-truck-to-storefront jump itself — and Hardin County's track record with it. "It's exciting to see them go from food truck to brick-and-mortar," he said, "kind of like Jon said about Grind. We've seen Pappy's Tacos do it, we've seen DelVal Kitchen do it, Juanitos — several other places have gone from that truck to brick-and-mortar. I think it's great to see them at the sit-down." When Phil asked his read on what makes a food truck ready for that leap and whether Radcliff is the right spot for a Cuban restaurant, Nate's answer was a setup for the Experienced Eater segment that followed — "that's why we had Britt and Michele, and they'll talk about that later."

Next: Papa John's #3 is now open. The original Hardin County location is out by Ring Road off 62, near Walgreens; the second is on the north side near John Hardin; and this third one is in the 62 Food Mart building, across from Ride-Wright Tire, off Highway 62 near Central Hardin. Nate checked the delivery map personally — "it does deliver out to BlueOval, which will be nice for that factory; it covers 222, which is where I grew up, and 222 is also the main road that goes through Glendale; and it'll cover West Hardin Middle School. Those are all three areas that never had that type of" delivery. Last week Nate had the sign in Business Buzz; this week the store is open.

Then Fuel Fortress. The sign is now up at the former JoAnn Fabrics location — the big box between Malibu Jack's and El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant in Elizabethtown — and from the photos, "they're gutting the place." Nate's read: this is a real, full-scale gym, not a junior version. "This is huge — it's Malibu Jack's-sized. They're going to have all sorts of stuff, and it's not meant for the person who just wants to work out once a week to say 'okay.' This is intense — people who really want to sculpt, who want to hit it multiple times a week, who want to be coached and aren't afraid to be coached." Fuel Fortress has a vibrant social-media following and other locations in Kentucky and Tennessee — "so this isn't their first one; they know what they're doing" — and they're already advertising for a general manager. Rachel asked, from the real-estate side, what it tells you when a destination like that takes a vacated big box, and how long those build-outs run. Nate's timeline: "I don't think it's going to be open by the end of May, but summer — June or July — is very shootable. That's a great win for us. I'm excited about that."

The one Nate said he's "legally obligated" to be clear about: Green Releaf, a medical marijuana dispensary coming to the corner unit of Mulberry Square — the shopping center next to Bargain Hunt with Subway, Batteries Plus, Bloom Bakery — taking up several spots in what Nate called the back-left corner. As announced on Friday's live with Phil, the signs should be going up this week, and they're targeting an opening this month, though no official date is set. Nate, Phil, and Scott all hammered the same point: "Don't treat this like Cheech and Chong. You're not showing up with 50 bucks or 100 bucks and just saying 'I want some weed.' Not happening. You have to get a card, you have to be looked at — this is all followed through, there's a whole website that does it." There has to be a licensed medical professional — likely a nurse or doctor — on site, possibly a security guard, photo ID, no fake IDs. "It's like a prescription," Nate said. "You'll have to get a prescription from your doctor and then you'll have to have that — it's probably like a controlled substance." (One caution flagged on air, attributed to a viewer and not confirmed by Green Releaf: a medical marijuana card may affect your ability to legally carry a firearm — Phil's read was that's a federal-law question, "and I don't think the feds are enforcing that, but they could — so just be aware." Treat that as unconfirmed.)

Saturday brings a big consignment auction in Upton, just off South Dixie Highway — hosted, Nate said, by "Freeze," with Stewart Sullivan part of it. Nate went out Monday and took "60-something photos" — and they were still bringing things in. "If you need that — picnic tables, golf carts, a bus, a full camper, pop-up campers — they have it. Trucks, farm equipment, construction equipment. If you want to do a startup, you could fill up everything you possibly need." You can bid online or go in person, and the equipment's there to look at — "if you have kids that like the equipment, you can go out and look at it all." Saturday morning, Upton. Nate posted a walkthrough video on his Facebook page.

Last, the Elizabethtown Planning Commission meets tonight — nothing major on the business side. There's a St. John Road property looking to be annexed; people thought it was a daycare center, but it's being used by a homeschool co-op group that used to meet at the nature park. No businesses, no franchises on this meeting's agenda. "A lot more stuff next week," Nate said.