New owners are bringing classic Columbus restaurant back to life. ‘A pipe dream’

When Ross Horner, former president and CEO of Uptown Columbus, opened his dream restaurant on Broadway, there was little to no fanfare.

He didn’t have a big ribbon cutting ceremony for Frank’s Alley, and the future was uncertain for the hot dog spot as the COVID-19 pandemic remained a global crisis with no signs of slowing down.

“It starts as an idea,” Horner told the Ledger-Enquirer. “And you build it out and grind. You create a community.”

Since opening the “New York street food joint” in a space that used to be an actual alley, Mike Jones watched as Horner’s community grew inside Frank’s Alley. Jones initially became associated with the restaurant when Horner approached him about putting together branding.

Jones works remotely as a senior brand designer for the Colorado-based company Heyo. After his work designing for Horner ended, Jones stuck around the restaurant.

“(I was eating),” Jones said. “Let’s just be straight. I would come in here for lunch and catch up with Ross.”

When Horner experienced a big life change that caused him to leave Columbus, and potentially close Frank’s Alley , Jones realized it was an opportunity to help a friend while fulfilling a longtime dream he had with his other friend, Matt Gillespie.

The two friends came together to become the new owners of Frank’s Alley, and they plan to reopen the restaurant Thursday at 11 a.m.

Realizing a ‘pipe dream’

Gillespie and Jones talked about operating a food business together for the past 15 years. But the time or the budget was never right.

“It was always just a pipe dream,” Jones said.

Horner closed Frank’s Alley earlier this year to be closer to his family for personal reasons. He was unsure what the future was going to look like for his dream business that had built a community and led to the creation of Glizzy Fest .

The festival began a couple years ago, offering live music, activities and events for adults and kids on Broadway. Horner didn’t want to see Frank’s Alley close or the annual Glizzy Fest end because of his absence.

Neither did Jones and Gillespie, who sat down with Horner to discuss the logistics of becoming the new owners of Frank’s Alley and continuing Horner’s legacy in Columbus.

Everything lined up, Jones said, and now they’re preparing to reopen the restaurant this week. Running Frank’s Alley will be a big undertaking with both of them working full-time jobs, said Gillespie, who is a real estate photographer. But both of them have positions that allow them to set their own schedules, he said, which makes it possible.

“We just felt like this is a great opportunity because we had been talking about it for 15 years,” Gillespie said. “And it’s like, we’re only getting older … so, let’s go ahead and do it.”

Keeping the community going

One of Jones and Gillespie’s priorities is to ensure the community around Frank’s Alley that Horner built remains in place and grows.

It is important to Jones that he preserves Horner’s legacy at the restaurant and in Columbus. Jones has watched Horner build and care for Frank’s Alley from start to finish, he said, and he saw Horner put everything he had into making the business succeed.

“You see what this place meant to them when it wasn’t going like they wanted it to,” Jones said. “Or they had to do something different. You want to reach out. You want to love on them, hug on them, pray for them, and then go, ‘Can we help?’”

Gillespie and Jones will make some changes, but Frank’s Alley will remain true to Horner’s vision, they said. Customers will still be able to order predetermined hot dogs on the menu, but they’ve made the menu more customizable.

Ordering will be more like a bar-style, with customers being able to choose what they’d like on their hot dog as they move down the line.

And yes, Glizzy Fest will carry on under Gillespie and Jones.

The friends, family and community Horner made in Columbus make it difficult for him to leave, he said. Columbus has always welcomed him, from the time he worked for the Civic Center to the time he worked in Uptown Columbus.

When he began Frank’s Alley, Horner didn’t know the kind of community he would build with the restaurant, but he’s confident it won’t go away under the leadership of Gillespie and Jones.

“When you want to see how diverse and how cool and interesting Columbus is, then you come down here because you see it here,” Horner said. “And I think that was one of the things that just kept driving me.”