Change is on the menu

A Boardman
restaurant company plans to expand throughout Ohio.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

Antone’s has proposed a new recipe for success.

The plan is to create a chain of quick-service restaurants that stretch across Ohio and perhaps beyond.

Antone’s — That’s Italian! is a new concept featuring orders that are placed at a counter and meals for $7.99 or less.

The locations will offer carry-out, delivery and drive-through service, as well as seats for 50 to 65 people. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered.

“The breakfast realm is huge, and we’ve never tapped into that before,” said Chad Scianna, who operates the company with his father, Ross.

The 47-year-old Boardman company will continue operating its five Antone’s restaurants and the Antone’s Banquet Centre on Market Street. Oscar’s, an upscale restaurant on Boardman-Poland Road, has been remodeled into a sports bar and restaurant.

The first Antone’s — That’s Italian! just opened next to the banquet center. The next one will open in Alliance by May, and then the first of four that are planned for the Columbus area should be open by September.

Chad Scianna expects to have a dozen locations by the end of 2009. Other possible sites are in Cleveland, Akron and Canton.

Some of the new locations will be corporate-owned and some will be sold to franchisees. Details on franchising costs haven’t been finalized.

Chad Scianna said he and his father have been planning the expansion for three years. They decided that opening full-service restaurants in other cities wouldn’t work because they would have to find qualified chefs and would need ways to ensure quality.

“Take our sauce,” Scianna said. “You can’t forget a pinch of this or a dash of that. You always want your product to taste the same.”

The new concept features a central kitchen located at the back of the banquet center that cooks for all of the “That’s Italian!” locations. Nearly all of the food at the restaurants will be prepared at the central kitchen.

Much of the planning for the venture has involved how to package the food for shipments, Scianna said.

He and his father took a step toward the new concept in 2006 when they opened Antone’s Italian Express in Niles. Since then, however, they decided to change the name to focus on the dine-in service and upgrade the interior.

Scianna said he and his father studied successful quick-service chains such as Panera’s and Chipotle and thought they could tie some of the same methods to Italian food.

The goal is to serve people their food in less than five minutes, and so far the Boardman restaurant is averaging half that.

The restaurant seats 50 people but has greater turnover than Antone’s other restaurants because most people are coming for a quick meal, Scianna said.

The restaurant employs 25. The central kitchen employs eight but that is expected to grow to 50.

Scianna said he and his father also are looking for sites in the area for a distribution center. After two more restaurants open, he figures they will need a centralized shipping location.

Scianna said a training facility for franchisees also will be set up in the plaza that houses the banquet center and restaurant. He said the company’s headquarters also is being moved from another Market Street location into the plaza, which is owned by Antone’s.

As the company expands into quick-service meals, it is exiting fine dining.

It opened Oscar’s in 2004 as a white-tablecloth, fine-dining restaurant.

“That’s not what this area wants, and you have to go with what the area wants,” Scianna said.

The restaurant has been remodeled and has just reopened as Jeremiah Bullfrog Sports Bar and Grille. It has 27 televisions and features meals such as meatloaf, stuffed chicken and pasta, as well as sandwiches and appetizers. The restaurant is open for lunch, which Oscar’s was not.

“You can come with your suit on after work or with shorts after golf. It doesn’t matter,” Scianna said.

shilling@vindy.com