Paul Giorgio
More Shawarma: The Phoenician Shawarma & Grill on Worcester’s Harding Street in the heart of the Canal District opened on the last day of January.
Can’t Get Enough Italian: Avvio Ristorante has taken over the space that once housed Uno Pizzeria at the Shoppes at Blackston Valley right off of Route 146. The summer opening of the eatery will fill a void at the mall. Avvio is owned by the Newport Restaurant Group which owns several restaurants including Papa Razzi in Wellesley and Bar ‘Cino in Brookline, Watertown and Westwood. It will be 100 percent employee owned.
Hey Sport: Yard House sports bar will also soon open at the Shoppes this summer. With locations in New York, New Jersey and the Boston area, this will be a welcome addition to Central Mass for beer lovers.
Loyal Customers. Wolfies Bakery, based on Cape Cod, will soon open in Shrewsbury.
Twisted Sister: Wetzel’s Pretzels is set to open a second Worcester location, inside the Walmart on Route 146.
The Glass Is Half Full: Vivienne, Niche’s coastal Mediterranean located in the Glass Tower at 46 Main Street in Worcester, is set to reopen in March. The eatery was only open a few weeks when an electrical fire shut them down. Niche also owns the Vue at the top of the building.
Happy Birthday: Piccolo’s Restaurant on Worcester’s Shrewsbury Street recently celebrated its 23rd year in business. They celebrated with $23 bottles of Dragani Montepulciano.
Cinco de By-O: The Mexicali in Spencer recently closed.
Wonder Of It All: The DCU Center welcomed the Wonder Bar, Worcester-based restaurant with locations on Shrewsbury Street and in Polar Park. The Wonder Bar is open during DCU events, but owner Frank Prizio hopes to eventually be open full time.
Check it out. – Checkers, the burger chain restaurant opened its first New England location in Worcester, the middle of February. The Worcester location is at 99 Gold Star Blvd. Previously the location was a Honey Dew Donuts shop, which closed last year. Before Honey Dew, the location was the longtime home to Jolly Giant Subs. Checkers is based in Tampa, Florida, and has more than 740 locations across the United States.
Cheese It: A Boston-based, business whose grilled cheese sales go towards helping honey bees, has chosen Worcester as the site of its first brick and mortar store.
Bees & Thank You will be opening at the Worcester Public Market this month, according to the food truck’s Facebook page.
Whistle While You Work: The O’Connor and Langway families opened the Whistle Stop Bar & Grill on 85 Main Street in Oxford.
Two for the money. A second Chipotle restaurant is coming to Worcester, according to the license commission’s agenda. The Mexican restaurant chain is looking to open a new location at 105 Stafford Street, which will operate seven days a week from 10:30am to 11pm.