Martini & Nuzzi’s, a popular eating and drinking establishment in southwest Toledo, has leased a vacant restaurant site on Huron Street downtown where it plans to open a second location in mid-March.
Earlier this week Martini & Nuzzi’s owner Cheryl Jiannuzzi signed a multiyear lease with an option to buy the building at 329 N. Huron, which previously housed a succession of restaurants, including The 329, Ole Taco’s, and Diva’s.
Martini & Nuzzi’s plans to operate the downtown location with the same concept — a restaurant, martini bar, and nightclub featuring larger-profile live bands — that it has for its restaurant at 6023 Manley Rd. at Heatherdowns Boulevard on the border of Toledo and Maumee. It will be open for lunch and dinner.
“It will be a little more upscale than the one out here,” said Sarah Jiannuzzi, who will manage the new restaurant and is the owner’s former daughter-in-law.
Ms. Jiannuzzi said the downtown site “is in a great area. There’s a lot of opportunity, a lot of new business coming in. We’re trying to support downtown.”
Commercial Realtor Pete Shawaker, who negotiated the deal, said the Jiannuzzi family saw the growth of downtown Toledo as the key to why their restaurant can succeed where the three previous operators failed.
“They’re not afraid because they recognize it’s a different economy now and they recognize downtown is different. You have the announcements of people coming downtown, the mature residential component, and they’re just a block away from the Huntington Center,” Mr. Shawaker said.
“They’ve seen people they know in the Maumee area who have come downtown. They say downtown is ready now. They say, ‘We think now that downtown can support us,’ ” Mr. Shawaker said. “And they are smart in that they know if they wait for a year or two when ProMedica is ready, their spot [on Huron] may not be available.”
Mr. Shawaker said the former restaurant site on North Huron has been the subject of several inquiries from potential renters since ProMedica announced its plans to move downtown.
The building, which is owned by local developer/investor Steven Roumaya, was built in 1907. The two-story structure has 3,800 square feet.
Martini & Nuzzi’s plans to use the first floor as its main restaurant and the second floor for music and dancing, and even coordinating music styles with artists who perform at the Huntington Center, Ms. Jiannuzzi said.
For example, if a country artist is performing at Huntington Center, Martini & Nuzzi would bring in a band to perform for an after-concert crowd. Family members said the South Toledo restaurant, which opened in 2004, has brought in bands from Nashville and Texas.
Martini & Nuzzi’s has been eager to expand but was uncertain where to go. Recently it was close to signing a deal to open a restaurant in Cleveland, but decided to expand in downtown Toledo after seeing the 329 N. Huron site.
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.
First Published January 31, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
