Fronteras Mexican Cuisine appears to be planning a third Columbus-area location, this time at Grandview Crossing, where a liquor permit application has surfaced for the address once occupied by Rail Craft Kitchen and Bar. The filing names Macias G Group LLC as the applicant, and it points to 1064 Dublin Road in Grandview Heights as the proposed site.
According to NBC4 WCMH-TV, Macias G Group LLC has applied for a liquor permit for a Fronteras restaurant at that Grandview Crossing property. Grandview Heights City Council took no action on the permit request at its September 28 meeting, the station reports, leaving the proposal in limbo for now. The restaurant group behind the plan is led by Abraham Macias and his siblings.
A Former Rail Craft Kitchen and Bar Space
The address has recent restaurant history of its own. Rail Craft Kitchen and Bar previously occupied 1064 Dublin Road, opening there in 2023 before closing in January, per the same NBC4 account. A separate NBC4 report on the closure noted the shutdown came after just under three years in business and left the Ohio-based chain with two remaining locations, including one at 5839 Frantz Road in northwest Columbus that opened in 2018; that report also noted the chain's Akron location, which debuted in 2011, closed in May 2025. Rail Craft's menu had leaned into burgers, flatbread pizzas, chicken wings, steak and tacos, the station's report added.
Grandview Crossing is a roughly 56-acre redevelopment of the former Dublin Road landfill, with land in both Grandview Heights and Columbus. Its mix of residential, office and retail uses is intended to make it a destination beyond the restaurant space at 1064 Dublin Road. When The Rail opened in 2023, it was one of the first businesses in the development, in a 5,505-square-foot space. The Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority’s project overview describes the redevelopment, while Columbus Underground’s opening coverage details The Rail’s place in its early rollout.
Hours and menu details for the proposed Grandview restaurant have not been announced, and the station's report notes that Fronteras did not respond to a request for information about the planned restaurant or its potential opening date.
Fronteras' Blacklick Roots
Fronteras has operated its original restaurant at 6608 E. Broad Street in the Blacklick neighborhood since early 2018. That menu includes street tacos, quesabirria, birria ramen, enchiladas, burritos and fajitas, with main dishes drawing from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The East Broad Street location also serves margaritas, tequila, wine and draft beer.
A Recent Expansion Into Italian Village
The Macias family's restaurant group has been growing. It expanded into Italian Village last month with K Vida Modern Mexican Bar at 119 E. 5th Avenue, occupying the former Zaftig Brew Pub space. K Vida offers a modern Mexican menu featuring dishes from several Latin American countries, including quesabirria tacos, birria ramen, pork belly guacamole, ropa vieja and mofongo, alongside a full bar stocked with margaritas, cocktails, beer, wine and a large tequila selection.
The family’s East Side restaurant grew out of a longer family food-business tradition: Fronteras describes its operators as the Macias family’s second generation of restaurateurs. The family says it opened the East Broad Street restaurant on Jan. 27, 2018, with a goal of bringing Latin American flavors to Columbus, primarily through Mexican gastronomy. That history gives the proposed Grandview site a different role from K Vida: it would extend the family’s original Fronteras brand to another part of the metro area. Fronteras’ own account of its beginnings provides the opening date and family background.
Whether the Grandview Crossing plan ultimately moves forward remains to be seen, since the city council has not yet acted on the permit application. For now, the filing marks the clearest sign that the Blacklick-born restaurant brand is looking to put down roots on the west side of Columbus, following its template of expanding a familiar menu of tacos, birria and Latin American-inspired dishes into new neighborhoods.
