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Jason Liu might be an engineer by education, but he's a restaurateur at heart.

On Tuesday, he opened Jason's Restaurant & Bar at 50 W. Bridge St. in Dublin.

"This is my American dream," said the 40-year-old Chinese immigrant, who sunk $1-million into the venture.

The Americana-style restaurant occupies a 3,315-square-foot standalone building in Historic Dublin. Jason's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Jesse Hardy, formerly of Bravo, is Jason's executive chef. He said he created a menu -- which includes American, Italian and Asian entrees -- that he hopes will appeal to a broad number of people. Dinner entrees range in price from $8.95 to $21.95.

There is seating for 68 in the main dining room and 52 in the bar, where smoking is permitted, and another 30 on the patio. The dining room and bar are separated by a glass partition that supports a stylized waterfall. The running water promotes a soothing environment, Liu said. The layout will serve as a prototype for future Jason's, Liu said, but no new stores are immediately planned.

Prepared to enter the doctoral program in material science engineering at Ohio State (where he earned his master's degree), Liu decided to pursue a different path. He was the franchisee of a Mark Pi's Express before he moved the restaurant to Worthington Mall and later renamed it China Way. He has since opened and sold a Westerville location but still owns the one in Worthington.

For more information, call 614-718-1818.

Two new Mexican restaurants are calling Greater Columbus home. El Rodeo has opened at 3962 Powell Road. The storefront is in the Big Bear Farms shopping center. It is the 15th location for the chain, which got its start in Lafayette, Ind. The 150-seat eatery has a nonsmoking environment. Manager Alex Bustos said the restaurant is known for its chimichangas, burritos and fajitas.

Raeshelle Bauders and Crispin Alvarez have opened La Fogata Grill in the old Montana Mining Co. site in Pickerington. The restaurant, whose name means bonfire in Spanish, seats 260. Smoking is permitted at the bar. Bauders said the restaurant specializes in made-from-scratch, classic Mexican cuisine.

Both El Rodeo and La Fogata Grill are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Hari Narahari is back. The former owner of Woodlands, an Indian vegetarian restaurant on Bethel Road, has returned with Dosa Corner. The 22-seat eatery is located at 1077 Old Henderson Road and once housed a JP's Barbecue Ribs. The drive-through, it appears, will not be used.

The dosa, a lentil crepe, is the house specialty and comes in several varieties, ranging in price from $3.99 to $4.99. The limited menu, which includes rice and curry dishes, will be expanded, Narahari said. Dosa Corner is entirely nonsmoking. Its opening returns the number of local Indian vegetarian restaurants to three, including Annapurna and Udipi Cafe.

Narahari and a partner recently sold Woodlands to Prabal Basu, who has renamed the eatery Nawab. It's at 816 Bethel Road.

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