Restaurant roundup: Multiple changes over last few weeks

There have been a handful of changes to well-known Homewood restaurants in the last few weeks.

In West Homewood, Ash Bar and Grill has closed, with plans for a private event space owned and operated by Gianmarco’s announced.

“I’m so involved and can’t be as involved as I need to be as a husband, dad, coach, etc.,” owner Mark Driskill said. “It’s a good thing for our family.”

Driskill said he’s got another landing spot that he does not want to disclose at this time, but said it was impossible to run the restaurant and have the family time he needed, too.

“It wears me out,” Driskill said.

Driskill said while he’ll miss seeing people celebrate and enjoy their food, he and his family are staying in their West Homewood home and continue to have strong relationships with friends and neighbors.

The restaurant’s last day was Aug. 20.

In Edgewood, Dreamcakes Bakery closed both their Homewood and Hoover locations on Aug. 13. Their closing came after the owners were unable to reach an agreement with their landlord about the rent. Dwight Potter, one of the owners, said the Hoover location had to close as the Homewood store serves as the factory for Hoover.

In other news, Hero Doughnuts & Buns will move in the next year or so to the former Valley Mall location, where it will join forthcoming Italian restaurant Luca, landlord Mike Mouron said. A bank will also be on the property, Mouron said.

Moving will give Hero more parking and a pick-up window, Mouron said.

It has not yet been decided what will move into the space Hero currently occupies. Mouron said the timeline is for it to take about a year or maybe more to complete the move, and the current Hero location will not close until the new one is open.