After being a Fort Thomas business owner for 13 years, Barb Thomas is ready to pass the torch to someone else.
Thomas opened Fort Thomas community staple Grassroots & Vine in 2018 after owning her gift shop Fort Thomas Central for six years. Grassroots & Vine is a hybrid between a restaurant, full-service bar and event venue with a little market that offers retail.
Thomas said the restaurant grew from a desire to bring the community together.
“If you think about the name Grassroots & Vine, and if you think about grassroots as going back to your community roots, and then also vine, bringing in the wine, and also pulling together the community.”
Originally from Virginia, Thomas and her family moved to Fort Thomas in 2012. She put her kids through school there and operated her businesses before recently moving to Newport. Since starting her first business in 2012, Thomas said she has watched the Fort Thomas business community grow 10-fold.
Going into owning the restaurant, Thomas said she told herself she would run the business for 10 years and then pass the torch onto someone else. After about seven years, she decided to sell after being diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer in December 2024.
“I have decided that I’d rather pass the torch to someone energetic and passionate about the food and beverage industry sooner than later so that that person can come in and continue to serve the community and continue to grow the business, as we’ve always done in the past,” Thomas said.
During the transitional period, Thomas said she would be available to help the new owner as a consultant and hopes for a very smooth transition.
“I personally would like to think that later on down the road I would be able to come in as a customer, and I would be able to watch Grassroots & Vine grow beyond my highest expectations,” she said.
Thomas said the business had evolved into something bigger and better than she could have imagined. Contributors to that success are the customer base, listening to what the community seeks in a small-town restaurant and the Grassroots & Vine team.
“We are a close-knit work family around here, and they really have taken the reins since my diagnosis and have kept up with the caliber of our service,” Thomas said.
Thomas is looking to sell to someone who can grow but maintain the culture of the business. She said restaurants are tough, and not many people are looking to invest, but Grassroots & Vine already has an established menu, operation system and reliable staff.
Linda Dillon-Schlosser and her husband, Rob, are two long-time Grassroots and Vine customers.
Dillion-Schlosser told LINK nky the couple has frequented the restaurant since it opened and typically gets carryout or dines in at least once a week. She said their staples are salads and they can’t leave without a slice of honeysuckle or carrot cake.
“We love the salads,” she said. “They have a beet salad that is amazing, a great portion. To me, it’s just too much I take part of it home. It’s really good.”
Dillion-Schlosser said the couple followed Thomas from her gift shop, which they also frequented and were one of the first customers when Thomas opened the restaurant.
“In the summertime and springtime when they open the patio, we are there,” Dillion-Schlosser said. “Sometimes, even more than twice a week. We just love the atmosphere.”
Grassroots & Vine is in the Historic Midway District in Fort Thomas, which Thomas said is a perk.
“We’re on the main street, we’re across from Tower Park, we’re across from the VA hospital,” she said. “I also feel like being right up the street from getting on 471 really gives easy access to and from Cincinnati and surrounding areas. So that helps us pull from Fort Thomas, but it also helps us pull business from outside of Fort Thomas, which is very crucial in a successful business.”
Thomas said some of the awards they have received over the years testify to their success. In 2022, they won the Northern Kentucky Chamber Business Impact Award in the startup category. Yelp voted the restaurant one of the top 25 in the Northern Kentucky area, and City Beat named it one of the top 25 brunch and breakfast spots in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Thomas said Grassroots & Vine prides itself on freshly made, small-batch menu items and its wine list. She said they bring in wines that you don’t find at the big boxes and are grown by small farmers or women-owned wineries. Additionally, Thomas said their outdoor patio is the best on this side of the Ohio River.
When she ran her gift shop, Thomas prioritized events around town. She would bring in food trucks and have live music to become a community meeting spot. So, when it came time to open Grassroots & Vine, she wanted to keep that same message but bring it up a notch.
In addition to its food and wine selections, the restaurant offers live music and wine tastings. The small market carries pieces from local artists and the business hosts private events like showers, rehearsal dinners and weddings.
“When you can sit down at a table, and you can share a meal and a beverage with someone,” Thomas said. “It takes you to a whole different level, as far as coming together as a community.”
Those interested in buying Grassroots & Vine can contact Thomas by email at Barbnthomas@hotmail.com or by phone at (803) 367-3398.
