06/04/2026
Wow, I wasn't expecting so many memories about the lost underground Courthouse Square restaurants! Thanks everyone for sharing.
I got a few more photos of the space today, and also dug deeper into the restaurant history to share today.
A snapshot of the Jacques menu from a 1979 review:
"Veal Viennoise ($9.50) turned out to be a well-executed Wienerschnitzel, lightly crusted and tender. Another veal dish, sauteed veal steak Jacques ($13.85), was even better. Nicely sauced and including, oddly but successfully, scallops. Steak au Poivre ($8.75) was excellent beef with a rich wine sauce. Sauteed Tournedos Henri IV ($13.50) was equally good beef, done with artichoke hearts and Bearnaise ... For dessert we indulged ourselves in strawberries Romanoff ($2.25), creme caramel chantilly ($1.50), Souffle glace Grand Marnier (frozen orange souffle at $2.25) and Black Forest cake ($1.85)."
I also learned that when Jacques was originally being planned, the developers hoped to cover the sunken plaza with a large glass dome, similar to the original Jacques restaurant in Chicago, which was described as a garden restaurant under glass.
The dome would have brought natural light into the space and made it a visible and distinctive destination from street level. It was initially deemed too expensive, and though the developer later said "it's 99 percent we're going to have the dome," final arrangements were not made and it was never built.
Jacques and Sherlock's Home closed suddenly on a Friday in March of 1982.
Employees were told near the end of the lunch service, given two weeks' severance, and found the doors locked by that afternoon.
One employee told the paper she should have suspected something when the chef quietly moved his family to Florida the week before.
Benham's Caterers of Dayton took over the lease and soon reopened after some rebranding.
It later became twin restaurants The Courtyard and Langtree's, but they closed on January 17, 1991.
Charley's moved in from the shuttered Arcade, and it closed its Courthouse Square location permanently after a New Year's Celebration in 1998.
