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Dan and Gina Gentile are the owner-operators
YOUNGSTOWN
Avalon Gardens bar and restaurant, formerly on Belmont Avenue on the city’s North Side, will be reopened as a pizzeria and bakery on Mahoning Avenue on Youngstown’s West Side.
The pizzeria, to be located in Crims Corner Plaza, 3212 Mahoning Ave., is expected to open for business in March, said Atty. Jim Tadla, spokesman for the James “Jim” Donofrio and Dan Gentile families who are involved in the enterprise.
It will be mainly take-out with limited in-store dining, Tadla said of the business that may add additional stores or offer franchises in the future.
“Avalon Gardens’ new location will carry the original Avalon Gardens pizza menu, including its famous Brier Hill pizza, as well as wings, sandwiches, panini, salads and entrees,” Tadla said.
Also, Avalon Gardens is teaming up with Josephine’s Italian Bakery, owned by Gentile and his wife, Gina, which will offer a variety of authentic Italian baked goods and pastries — from bread to cannoli.
Dan Gentile, who has more than two decades of experience in food-service operations, is licensing the Avalon Gardens trade name, trademarks and recipes from Avalon Gardens, but they are still owned by the Donofrio family, Tadla said.
Dating back to the 1920s, Avalon Gardens was in Brier Hill, a neighborhood on the North Side of Youngstown once known as “Little Italy.”
The bar/restaurant was closed Jan. 25, 2012, a few months after Jim Donofrio, owner-operator, went missing Sept. 25, 2011. Donofrio, 64, of Boardman, was reported missing after he was expected to close his restaurant but never arrived. He had purchased the 90-year-old Avalon Gardens about a year earlier.
The Donofrio family asks anyone with any information about James Donofrio to call Youngstown police at 330-742-8911 or to call 330-746-CLUE (2583), anonymously. The family is offering a $5,000 reward for confirmed information about Jim’s whereabouts. More information about the case is available at www.findjames.info.
Although the Donofrio family auctioned much of the equipment after closing Avalon Gardens, it kept the trade name, trademarks and well-seasoned pizza pans with the future in mind, Tadla said.
“My dad saw the value in the Avalon Gardens brand, and we’ve been determined to continue his dream. It’s amazing how many people in the greater Youngstown-Warren area have roots tied to Brier Hill and fond memories of Avalon Gardens and its pizza. We simply had to restructure to make Avalon Gardens easily available to them again,” said Carli Donofrio.
The new location eliminated the bar and instead focuses on food.
“It’s somewhat ironic that many people were introduced to the pizza and the rest of the menu back when Avalon Gardens was a tavern and nightclub. They have families now and are no longer part of the nightlife, but they still love the pizza. So we’re taking it to them, along with the new bakery concept,” Carli said.
“We were developing Josephine’s last summer and knew we wanted to add pizza but weren’t sure which direction to take it,” said Gentile. “We saw what they wanted to do with the Avalon Gardens brand, and it looked to be a perfect fit for everyone, especially our customers.”