NEWS: Italian, Mexican eateries are coming to Paducah BY LAUREL BLACK lblack@paducahsun Plans for three new restaurants in Paducah prove that Italian and Mexican cuisine arent about to lose their foothold in the area. Another Mexican eatery and a new Italian joint are coming to the Kentucky Oaks Mall area, while owners of the future Italian Grill on Broadway have poured close to half a million dollars into cleaning and upgrading its location at 314 Broadway, the former home of Martin Fierro Argentinean Grill. We love and are very passionate about what we do. We love the downtown neighborhood, said Joan Manganaro, co-owner of the Italian Grill on Broadway. Manganaro and husband George also own an Italian restaurant, Main Street Italian Grill, in Marion, Kentucky. Our other restaurant is in a 100-year-old brick building; we love the character and charm of these old buildings, she added. Manganaro said shes been working for over a year with City Planner Steve Ervin and Downtown Development Specialist Melinda Winchester to bring the restaurant to Paducah and hopes to open in March. Much of the work completed at the downtown location has involved cleaning and sanitizing the hood systems and air conditioning and upgrading to more environmentally friendly dishwashing systems, toilets and lighting. The kitchen also has been cleaned and retiled. A 12-foot-long bar in the upstairs area of the restaurant has been expanded to 24 feet, Manganaro added. The restaurant will seat around 160 people. Its very comfortable. (Patrons) are not squished like sardines, she said. The Manganaros arent new to the restaurant business; they owned a pizzeria in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where they thought theyd retire. Then George decided the hunting was better in Kentucky, Joan said, so they made their way to the commonwealth. Their Marion restaurant, Main Street Italian Grill, has been open for about four years. Manganaro said that she and her husband pride themselves on cooking everything, including their pasta, from scratch. Another new Italian restaurant, Gondolier Pizzeria, submitted plans to the city in September. The city issued a renovation permit and a sign permit to the restaurant, according to Pam Spencer, spokeswoman for the city of Paducah. She described those renovations to the former Pasta House Co. building at Jordans Crossing as relatively minor. No one with the restaurant or with Falconite Development Corp., which owns the location, could be reached for comment. According to the restaurants web site, the chain was opened in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1974. It now has locations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina. The pizzeria also offers salads, subs, pita wraps, calzones and other Italian entrees. Plans to open Mexican restaurant El Bracero in the former El Chicos building were submitted to the Fire Prevention Division on Dec. 16, Spencer said, and are awaiting review. Attempts to contact a spokesperson for El Bracero were unsuccessful. Contact Laurel Black, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8641, or follow @LaurelFBlack on Twitter.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:26:39 +0000
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