Bill Gianino (and his son Billy) will take over the Massa’s restaurant at 131 W. Argonne (just off Kirkwood Rd in downtown Kirkwood). Massa’s has the option to remain as long as May 1, so the timetable for the new restaurant cannot be determined. Gianino plans on gutting the 7500 SF space “back door to front,” and forecasted that “realistically, we’re probably looking at early fall.”
The Gianino restaurant group owns four Gianino restaurants (Gianino’s, Bill Gianino’s, Frankie G’s, and Frankie Gianino’s Grill & Bar in Imperial) as well as Pepper’s Bar and Grill and Aero Hawk Catering, plus the three Joey B’s restaurants. Last year, the group was looking at a location at 121 S. Kirkwood Rd, but a lack of parking stalled negotiations.
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Gianino’s serves straight-ahead, family-oriented, value-based, Italian food (translation: a pasta entree and a salad ring in below the magic $15 threshold) while Joey B’s is known for low prices and humongous portions. (When served a Blue Cheese & Buffalo Chicken Salad at the Hampton Av. store recently, I asked the server if anyone has ever finished it, to which she nonplussed: “Not to my knowledge.”)
According to Bill Gianino, the as-yet-unnamed Kirkwood restaurant will be a different concept from either the Gianino’s or the Joey B’s model. “Sure there’s going to be crossover items,” he said, ” but there are plenty of different, new ideas as well,” many of them buoyed by the location of the Kirkwood Farmers’ Market 2 blocks away. Then his became more animated: “We will use that market as much as possible, so that our product can be as fresh as possible, he said, “and being able to serve it all on that beautiful patio will make it even more special.”
Massas’ two other locations, in Ellisville and Bridgeton, will remain open.
