Portage & Brady’s Leap Service Plazas – Ohio Turnpike

Phillips Sekanick Architects designed the interior improvements to the Portage and Brady’s Leap Service Plazas on the Ohio Turnpike for AVI Foodsystems, helping transform the paired travel plazas into updated restaurant, retail and food-service destinations serving travelers across Northeast Ohio.

Located at Milepost 197.0 in Portage County near Mantua, Ohio, the Portage Service Plaza serves westbound Turnpike traffic while Brady’s Leap serves eastbound travelers. The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission selected Warren, Ohio-based AVI Foodsystems to operate the food and retail concessions at both facilities following a competitive selection process. The Commission reported that AVI’s proposal was selected based on its branding, financial and operational capabilities.

Working with AVI Foodsystems, Phillips Sekanick Architects provided architectural and interior design services for improvements associated with the new food-service and retail program within the existing service plaza buildings. Designing within active transportation facilities required careful integration of multiple restaurant concepts, customer circulation, service counters, food preparation and support areas, equipment, utilities, finishes and branded environments while maintaining the functionality expected of heavily traveled Turnpike facilities.

The redevelopment introduced a new collection of national and regional dining and retail concepts. The Ohio Turnpike reported that AVI opened Dunkin’, Freshëns Fresh Food Kitchen, Jimmy John’s, Wendy’s and the Pike Plaza Shop at the Portage and Brady’s Leap plazas. The improvements also supported evolving food-service technology, including mobile ordering, payment systems and other customer-service enhancements.

The Ohio Turnpike’s current service-plaza information continues to identify those restaurant and retail offerings at both locations. The plazas are part of the Turnpike’s statewide network of facilities positioned approximately every 30 to 50 miles to provide travelers with food, fuel and other services without leaving the toll road.

For Phillips Sekanick Architects, the Portage and Brady’s Leap Service Plaza renovations demonstrate the firm’s experience with restaurant architecture, food-service planning, branded commercial interiors, retail design, hospitality environments and renovation of active public transportation facilities. The project also represents a collaboration between two Warren-area companies—Phillips Sekanick Architects and AVI Foodsystems—on a highly visible hospitality and transportation project serving travelers throughout Ohio and the eastern United States.