Homegrown Oobatz! taking former home of Uno pizzeria

The Zionsville restaurant Oobatz! is adding a second location in the former home of Uno Chicago Grill along East 82nd Street in front of the Clearwater Crossing shopping center. The casual restaurant, which serves pizza, burgers, pasta and wings, is on target to open in February or March, said Kirk Givens, a former Paradise Bakery & Cafe franchisee who owns the concept with Julie Weisenbach. The new Oobatz! will feature an open-air kitchen, 9-foot stainless steel fire tower in front, seven garage doors, three fire pits on a large front deck, and outdoor wood-burning fireplaces in the back, Givens said. Oobatz is an Italian slang term for crazy, which seemed to fit since they started the restaurant three years ago during the Great Recession.

In other restaurant news:

• Flat Top Grill, a create-your-own stir-fry chain based near Chicago, has filed plans to open a restaurant in Noblesville at Hamilton Town Center. The chain is taking 3,500 square feet along Town Center Boulevard near Harrell Parkway. It would be the first central Indiana location for Flat Top. The chain almost opened a restaurant at Glendale Town Center in 2008 before that deal fell through. Glendale wound up landing Pei Wei Asian Diner, a similar concept.
• A Taste of Philly, the locally owned pretzel bakery, is headed to Fishers. The concept operated by Patrick Wojtalik has locations at City Market and 42nd Street and College Avenue. The chain's new Fishers outpost is planned for 1,300 square feet in a shopping center along 116th Street that also has Nancy's Pizza and Taylor's Bakery.
• His Place, a locally owned ice cream and coffee shop, has opened at the corner of Fairview Road and State Road 37 in Greenwood. Owners Kyle and Cheryl Adamson are offering 50 types of sundaes, fresh pastry and bakery items and specialty coffee and tea drinks.