COLUMBUS, Ohio (COLUMBUS BUSNIESS FIRST) — A Columbus-grown taco eatery and bar is opening its first out-of-state unit, one of several expansions it has in the works.

Local Cantina will open a restaurant at Santa Rosa Beach on Florida’s panhandle this year.

It will be part of a project there called Greenway Station, a mixed-use development with 26,000 square feet of commercial space and an 85-room boutique hotel.

George Tanchevski, the chain’s founder and owner, said he wasn’t shopping for opportunities that far from the company’s Ohio home base, but he was familiar with the area in Florida.

“The developers tracked us down,” he said. “I’d been to that area on vacation before and knew it was underserved for restaurants.”

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