FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- Sides To Go! BBQ is coming to Fairview Park. The fast-casual southern barbeque restaurant, which gained fame as one of the winners of the Cleveland Chain Reaction program, is moving into the former site of East Coast Custard at 18900 Lorain Road. The property has been vacant since September 2015.

"When you think of BBQ, you think of family and having a good time," said franchise owner and entrepreneur Zarell Patton, who is opening the location with business partner Paul Ward.

"When I was driving around Fairview, I saw a lot of people walking around together. As I did more research, I felt the city was really family oriented. We found the building and decided to make it happen," Patton said.

Fairview Park Director of Public Service & Development Shawn Leininger said Patton and Ward were awarded $19,700 through the Lorain Road Loan Program, a partnership among Fairview Park, Cuyahoga County and the Small Business Administration.

"We're extremely excited and proud Patton and Ward chose Fairview Park to expand the business," Leininger said. "We look forward to welcoming them home when construction is complete."

The Lorain Road Loan Program is a three-year, forgivable loan to assist in improvements to a building.

"The loan allowed us to have some flexibility and really get this location to be back to where it should be," Leininger said. "East Coast Custard was there, and now we want to be able to kind of bring it back to life.

"It's been vacant for three years now, so we needed the extra money to really get this location to pop and to really be the focal point for the city. Construction has been going for a month now, and we're looking at the end of August or early September to open."

While there are six other Sides To Go! BBQ locations in Northeast Ohio, Patton said the Fairview Park restaurant is the first on the west side.

"We're also going to be the first location to have ice cream, so we can provide that same feeling -- with a little twist -- the community had for 20 years with East Coast Custard," Patton said. "We're going to have three different flavors."