Shauna Steigerwald

ssteigerwald@enquirer.com

The Tom+Chee at Newport on the Levee is wrapping up its renovations, and will host a grand reopening celebration from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Since the beginning of April, the restaurant has been operating with only outdoor seating, a tent, a griddle and a pared-down menu – much like the grilled cheese and tomato soup shop's early days on Fountain Square -- while work on the interior was underway.

The updates were designed to make the Newport store the company's flagship and serve as a model for its growing number of franchise locations. Changes include streamlining the kitchen to get food out quicker, expanding from 60 to 88 seats, moving the ordering area to alleviate crowding and making the space brighter and more colorful, with new yellow floors and "old-school" plastic seating.

"It's going to be a lot easier for customers to get in and out," said Corey Ward, who co-founded Tom+Chee with Trew Quackenbush. "It's going to be easier for large groups to come in and eat. At the end of the day, it's going to be a much better customer experience."

Saturday's event will include family-friendly entertainment by Wizardz Magic Theater and Circus Mojo, as well as a raffle to benefit Awesome Fathers Taking Roles (AFTR). The grand prize, to be drawn at 5:55 p.m., is a hotel stay at Comfort Suites in Newport, tickets to the Newport Aquarium and gift cards to Tom+Chee.

Tom+Chee will also unveil its newest grilled cheese doughnut, the Choco Bacon Bliss: bacon, chocolate pieces, mozzarella and chocolate mascarpone on a doughnut.

Newport is one of three Tom+Chee locations in Greater Cincinnati; there are also three in Louisville, plus locations in Lexington, Lansing, Mich., and Freehold, N.J., with additional stores planned to open in Columbus, Toledo and Atlanta.

www.tomandchee.com