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Ada’s newest restaurant near completion

By Amy Eddings

The long wait is almost over for the writers, dreamers, time-wasters and schemers who have been without a hang-out since Ada’s only coffee shop, Northern On Main, closed for good last May.  Its replacement, Cosi, is slated to open in early August, according to officials at Ohio Northern University.  

The "fast-casual" restaurant chain has 98 locations, primarily in New York City, with three in Columbus.  This would be the only Cosi in northwestern Ohio.

The menu is built around Cosi’s signature flatbread, developed from a “centuries-old” Roman recipe, according to Cosi’s website.  It’s baked fresh every 20 minutes in a hearth that will be a central part of the redesigned NOM space, said Dr. Adriane Thompson Bradshaw, ONU’s vice president for student affairs and dean of students in an interview earlier this summer.

“When you walk in there, you’ll smell the bread baking” she said.  “They give out little samples while you’re ordering and waiting. So, it’s an experience."

Thompson Bradshaw said ONU’s dining services contractor, Sodexho, decided to partner with Cosi at the off-campus site at 534 S. Main St. because of its expanded menu.

While Northern On Main’s offerings were limited to sandwiches, pastries, pre-packaged salads and bottled juices, Cosi’s menu bumps it up a notch with made-to-order salads, individual or family-sized pizzas and trendy “bowl” meals of vegetables, protein and grains.  

Breakfast items will no longer be limited to yogurt, granola, muffins and the signature Ada Icon cinnamon roll.  At Cosi, diners can choose from egg sandwich wraps, egg white cups for the cholesterol-conscious, and sandwiches made from a “squagel,” Cosi’s square version of a bagel.  It comes in ten different flavors, including cinnamon raisin, poppyseed and cranberry orange.
 
“This will be like a full restaurant,” said Thompson Bradshaw.  “We think it will work very well.”

What Ada will lose is a place for the general public to get Starbucks Coffee.  Cosi will serve its own coffee blend, and its own version of fancy espresso-based drinks.

ONU students, faculty and staff will still be able to get their Starbucks fix at the student-named Polar Espresso coffee kiosk that opened this spring in McIntosh Center.  “It’s been wildly popular in the couple of months that we had it open,” said Thompson Bradshaw.  Another coffee kiosk with the “Starbucks format” will open on the first floor of Heterick Memorial Library in the fall, she said.

She said Cosi will bring a new dining experience to Ada, one she hopes students and residents alike will embrace.  

“I know some people were pretty bummed,” she said of the demise of Northern On Main.  “But we believe this will be well-worth the wait."

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