By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Joe DiLeonardo and Kurt Suidinski hope
to score big with their new downtown Grand Rapids endeavor: the
proposed 10,000-square-foot, family-friendly Peppino’s Grille, Pizzeria
and Sports Lounge. The eatery received approval from the Grand Rapids
Planning Commission last week to move forward with the development of
130 Ionia SW, the former EQ3 furniture store.
The owners of the Peppino’s Pizza
franchise location on State Street opted to discontinue the franchise
arrangement, opening the door for the much larger sports lounge in the
entertainment district, just blocks from the Van Andel Arena.
“Downtown Grand Rapids is one of the
fastest growing areas I can see,” DiLeonardo says. “Bad times or good
times, people are always finding themselves downtown on weekends.
People like the feel down here; they can have drinks and can hop from
restaurant to restaurant. There are a lot more families down there on
weekends than people think.”
The restaurant features a main level
and a large mezzanine and the Upper Deck, where patrons can try their
hand at shuffle board or pool, listen to live music or relax on couches
around a fireplace.
On the main level, TV sports will be
the special of the day, aired on flat screen televisions suspended from
the ceiling and built into the wall of every booth.
Part of the parking lot to the south of
the building will become an outdoor patio. All told, indoor and outdoor
seating should accommodate between 275 and 315.
The menu includes appetizers, Mexican and Italian entrees, burgers, fish, steaks, chicken and kids’ meals.
Joe DiLeonardo, 38, says the eatery
comes by its Italian recipes honestly as hiis parents were born in
Sicily. His father, Carlo, started Peppino’s Pizza in Standale in 1976
and franchised the concept in the ’90s. His mother, Maddalena, still
makes the cannoli by hand.
Source: Joe DiLeonardo, Peppino’s Grille, Pizzeria and Sports Lounge
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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