Kimbal Musk's Next Door Restaurant To Open In Ohio

ORANGE, OH — Before Kimbal Musk's Next Door American Eatery could come to Ohio, before it could join the Pinecrest development, or represent a Midwest expansion...Musk had to break his neck. It gave him time to rethink his business plan, to design an affordable, fast-casual restaurant that would appeal to us thrifty Buckeye Staters and our Rust Belt neighbors.

Musk — who, yes, is Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk's brother — was effectively paralyzed after he fell out of a tube during a ski trip and landed face first in the snow in 2010. He was confined to a bed and while locked on a mattress, he re-discovered his passion for food.

Kimbal graduated from culinary school. He opened his first restaurant in 2004. He took a detour into Silicon Valley entrepreneurship, but when he broke his neck he found he really wanted to get back to what he loved: food. He opened his first Next Door restaurant in 2011.

Now Musk is the co-founder of the Kitchen Restaurant Group, which operates Next Door restaurants, as well as The Kitchen and Hedge Row. The Pinecrest restaurant will be Musk's first foray into Ohio.

Next Door hits all the buzz words for a trendy restaurant: farm-to-table, local, affordable. Throw-in a dash of Musk name-recognition and a, for now, exclusively Midwestern-based concept, and Northeast Ohioans will likely be intrigued by the restaurant.

"Ohio is a very important state for us," Musk told Patch during a late August tour of the not-yet-finished location at Pinecrest. Next Door already has locations in Colorado, Tennessee and Indiana. Getting a foothold in Ohio could be the start of rapid expansion plans for Musk's team. Before leaving the interview, he and Kitchen Group CEO Don Degnan were off to tour other possible locations near Cleveland.

In the late August heat, wearing his iconic cowboy hat, Kimbal Musk showed Patch his vision for the interior of Next Door in Ohio. Walking across gravel floors, while construction workers buzzed about, he said there would be a wrap-around patio that could seat 40 guests. Inside there would be space for 165 to 170 guests, including a large bar, tables and smaller booths for date nights.

Musk wants to have the best happy hour in Northeast Ohio. He wants to sell food at an affordable price point. He wants Next Door to be part of the Northeast Ohio fabric, and he wants customers to trust the food that they're eating.

"That's part of our ethos," Degnan said. "Knowing your [food] source is huge."

"We want to fit in with the community," Musk added. "We want to be accessible to everyday people."

Getting to Northeast Ohio took time, though. Just because Musk wanted to bring his restaurant to the region doesn't mean he was in a rush to crowbar his presence into the community.

"We've been looking at Cleveland for two years. We think Pinecrest is one of the coolest developments in the nation," he said. His team has already lined up local farmers to source food from and to supplement the other sources for Next Door.

In late November or early December, Next Door should open to the public. The restaurant will employ 60 to 70 people full-time. Musk is hoping his restaurant will fit into Northeast Ohioans' tastes. After all, he broke his neck for the concept.

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Photo of Kimbal Musk and Don Degnan from Chris Mosby, Patch