A prominent corner storefront in Over-the-Rhine that has sat empty for three years is finally getting a new tenant: Flamin' Feathers, a New Jersey-based chain known for Nashville hot chicken sandwiches and wagyu smash burgers, is moving into the former B&A Street Kitchen space at 1500 Race Street.
The deal was brokered by Nick Pesola, a local real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Commercial who has his own history on this stretch of Race Street. According to Cincinnati CityBeat, Flamin' Feathers has signed a 10-year lease for the building, which sits at the corner of Race and West 15th Streets. Before he was brokering deals, Pesola got his start in Over-the-Rhine hospitality in 2014 selling gourmet rotisserie chicken at Findlay Market, and he went on to open his own restaurant, Revolution Rotisserie, on Race Street in 2015, according to Pursuit of Delights.
The building itself has been empty since October 2023, when B&A Street Kitchen, which had served Southern and Southwestern breakfast and lunch there since April 2017, permanently closed after six and a half years in business. Hoodline previously ranked B&A among the city's top Southern spots before its closure. The four-story historic building, constructed in 1895, spans 5,873 square feet and is currently listed for sale at $1,050,000, per Crexi.
A National Halal Chicken Chain Lands in Cincinnati
Flamin' Feathers already operates brick-and-mortar restaurants in New Jersey — in Union, Ridgewood, and Lawrence Township — along with a food truck presence in Columbus, giving it an existing, if modest, footprint in Ohio ahead of this Cincinnati expansion. Its entire menu is certified 100% Zabiha halal by the Shariah Council of the United States of America, per the chain's own site, with strict vendor screening meant to keep meat, marinades, and sauces free of alcohol, pork derivatives, and non-halal rennet.
The menu pairs Nashville hot chicken sandwiches, wings, and tenders with wagyu beef smash burgers, hot chicken tacos, mozzarella sticks, fries, loaded mac 'n' cheese, and milkshakes. It's a fast-casual format built around volume and variety rather than a sit-down dining room, and it introduces a certified halal option to a stretch of Race Street that hasn't had one.
Late-night hours could also be a shift for the corridor. Flamin' Feathers' existing New Jersey locations run from 11 a.m. until midnight Sunday through Thursday and stay open until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. No opening date or specific Cincinnati operating hours have been announced yet, so it remains to be seen whether the new location will mirror that late-night schedule.
Prime Real Estate on a Busy Restaurant Row
The location puts Flamin' Feathers in dense company. The building sits directly next door to Pepp & Dolores, across the street from Fillo, and across from Mellotone Beer Project — placing the new halal chicken spot in the middle of one of Over-the-Rhine's more active dining blocks. Pepp & Dolores, in fact, is riding its own momentum right now: Hoodline reported in February that the Italian restaurant is expanding into suburban Deerfield Township.
The vacancy at 1500 Race Street wasn't an isolated case. B&A Street Kitchen's 2023 closure came during a rough stretch for Over-the-Rhine dining, when other neighborhood spots including Copper & Flame, PearlStar, Jack Brown's Burger Joint, Mighty Good, and Pontiac all shut down the same year. Filling a high-visibility corner that had sat dark for three years marks a notable turnaround for the block.
Beyond the restaurant space itself, the property carries broader redevelopment potential. The 1500 Race Street building qualifies for potential Federal and Ohio historic tax credits, as well as City of Cincinnati residential Community Reinvestment Area tax abatements for prospective owners, according to the Crexi listing. Whether the building's upper floors will eventually be redeveloped into residential units using those incentives remains an open question, as does the exact timeline for Flamin' Feathers' Cincinnati debut.
