The restaurant at 5421 U.S. 60 West had been running for 74 years when it closed as The Country Ham in August 2023. Its next tenant plans to serve breakfast.
Most restaurant news in Owensboro this year has looked like this. Gusto Italian, Azul Cantina & Grill, East 88 Buffet and the planned Morning J's all moved into buildings another restaurant had left. How long those buildings sat empty first varied a lot. One waited a few months and another waited about twelve years. That gap is the best guide to what happens next for the buildings that closed this fall.
Three years empty, then breakfast
The Owensboro Times reported on October 23 that Jordy's Restaurant is closing after four years. Its owners plan a new restaurant called Morning J's in the former Country Ham building. The new restaurant's Facebook page describes it as "Fresh Mexican and American breakfast classics." In late October the owners said no opening date had been set, though they hoped to welcome customers soon.
The family behind it has done this before. Roque Gonzales and his family opened Jordy's in August 2022 at 830 Chuck Gray Court, near Frederica Street and the bypass, in the former Penguin Point building. They ran it as a Mexican restaurant with a drive-thru. In their closing post the owners cited slowing business and wrote, "we will close this door and open another."
The Country Ham building has been dark for a little over three years. Janice Kennedy owned The Country Ham from 2009 until it closed, according to the Owensboro Times. Three years sounds like a long time. On the timeline below, it's somewhere in the middle.
How long the wait has run
Here's how long four Owensboro restaurant buildings sat empty before their next restaurant opened or was announced. Two of the new tenants have no opening date yet.
| Address | Previous restaurant | Gap | New restaurant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3500 Villa Point #103, off KY 54 | Mikato Steak and Sushi, closed early 2026 | A few months | East 88 Buffet, opened August 12, 2026 |
| 5421 U.S. 60 West | The Country Ham, closed August 2023 | About three years | Morning J's, no date set |
| 5135 Frederica Street | TGI Friday's, left in 2020 | Six-plus years | Yummy Bowl, planned |
| 5257 Frederica Street | Tumbleweed Southwest Grill, closed January 2014 | About twelve years | Gusto Italian, open by June 2026 |
The two fastest refills on record this year were suites in shopping centers. East 88 took the Mikato space inside Villa Point. Azul Cantina & Grill opened at 2065 East Parrish Avenue, Suite 100, a strip-center space that earlier housed Ernesto's and, before that, Moe's Southwest Grill. Building and electrical permits for a "new restaurant in strip mall" there were issued in February 2026, and the Owensboro Times described Azul as recently opened by mid-June.
The long waits were whole buildings. That's a useful baseline for the buildings that closed this fall, and two of them are on the same stretch of road as Gusto.
The south Frederica block
Within roughly a block and a half of south Frederica Street, the 5100 and 5200 addresses show every stage of a restaurant building's life at once.
At 5257, Gusto Italian ended the longest vacancy on the list. A banner reading "Coming Soon The Italian Taste" went up in the spring on a building that had been empty since Tumbleweed closed in January 2014. By June 17, the Owensboro Times reported it open. As reported at opening, it served chicken parmesan, lasagna, lobster ravioli and veal parmigiana, along with fresh-baked bread with unlimited refills. It served beer and wine and had room for about 150 guests between the dining room and outdoor seating. Its opening hours ran from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It was closed Mondays.
At 5205, the O'Charley's Restaurant + Bar was reported closing permanently on September 8. No new tenant has been announced.
At 5135, the former TGI Friday's has been empty since the chain left Owensboro during the first week of the pandemic in 2020, according to the Messenger-Inquirer. Yummy Bowl, a Mongolian stir-fry concept, is planned for the building. The Messenger-Inquirer reported that Xuegong Chen had applied for a permit. In January, the Owensboro Times reported that an opening announcement was expected soon. Yummy Bowl's own website lists the Frederica Street address. A quick check before you drive over is a good idea.
So the block has one building recently filled, one just emptied and one in between. If the TGI Friday's and Tumbleweed waits are any guide, the former O'Charley's could take a while.
Who has been moving in
Look at who is taking these spaces and a second pattern shows up. The buildings were left by chains, and most of the newcomers are run by the people who started them.
Tumbleweed, Moe's, TGI Friday's and Penguin Point were all chain names. Gusto Italian belongs to Nick Kamberi, a Sicilian-born restaurateur whose family ran restaurants and ice cream shops in Croatia. He told the Owensboro Times that many of Gusto's recipes come from his family, and said, "We wanted to do something like a second home for the customers."
Azul is Javier Cisneros's second restaurant. He opened his first, Maria's Mexican Grill in Mount Vernon, Indiana, at age 25. "When I saw this opportunity in Owensboro, I knew I had to take the risk," he told the Owensboro Times.
El Molcajete followed the same path. It opened its second Owensboro location, El Molcajete East, on April 9, 2025, in the former El Toribio building. Its owners were leasing the building and said they hoped to buy it if possible, the Owensboro Times reported. After a temporary closure, the restaurant was confirmed open again on August 29, 2026.
East 88 Buffet doesn't fit the pattern as neatly, since its owners haven't been named publicly. It opened with a hibachi grill, all-you-can-eat sushi and American options such as pizza and chicken wings. Opening prices were $13.99 for an adult lunch and $16.99 for an adult dinner, and the Sunday buffet was $16.99 all day.
The Gonzales family's move fits right in. They spent four years in a former Penguin Point and are now heading for a building that one local owner ran for its last 14 years.
The buildings that went dark this fall
Three more Owensboro restaurant buildings closed between early September and mid-October. As of late October, no successor had been announced for any of them, or for Jordy's building on Chuck Gray Court.
- O'Charley's, 5205 Frederica Street. Reported closing permanently September 8.
- Big Whiskey's American Restaurant and Bar, 234 Frederica Street. Closed "indefinitely" as of October 5. It opened in August 2025 in the former Bar Louie space as a locally owned franchise and the brand's first Kentucky location, known for American fare and bourbon. According to the Owensboro Times, the notice on the door said the business is "actively exploring opportunities" to return under new ownership.
- KFC, 3212 KY 54. Owensboro's last remaining KFC, reported closing permanently after October 9.
The downtown space on Frederica has already changed hands once, from Bar Louie to Big Whiskey's. The O'Charley's building now sits on the same block as the former TGI Friday's, which has waited six years, and the former Tumbleweed, which waited twelve. For anyone driving south Frederica, the next banner on that block will be news.
Whether you're watching the old O'Charley's for a sign or wondering what a vacant commercial building near you could become, EPIC Realty follows these Owensboro properties closely and is glad to talk them through with you. Schedule a free consultation with Jennifer Staser and the team.
