![]() ![]() Napelitano says that he wants to make it a place where people can bring their kids and pets or just come and chat with friends over a beer or coffee. The canopied patio area will include picnic tables, including small tables made specifically for dogs. Patrons will order at the counter, and food runners will bring the orders right to the table. ![]() The vibe of the restaurant will be relaxed and family-friendly. The upstairs will be closed off and turned into apartments. Napelitano would like to see the back half of the street-level space eventually turned into a catering venue or an entirely separate business, but nothing is currently planned. Of the 8,994-square-foot, three-story interior space, Manicomio will use only the front half of the street-level floor, which should seat 50-60 guests in addition to housing a working kitchen. The outdoor patio space alone, which extends from Biltmore Avenue to the back of the building, is 4,390 square feet - Napelitano says it should easily be able to host 70-80 people. The building, which used to house Hannah Flanagan’s Irish Pub, is massive. I think they said it was about 100 tons of debris that they took out.” There’s been a ton of construction work, which is being done by Merit Construction. The architect at one point told us that we’re the largest independent project going on in downtown. “To say it’s been a long time coming is an understatement. “It’s been a major project,” says Napelitano. ![]() Liebowitz and Napelitano are well aware of how long the process has taken and are visibly eager to finally open up the shop. Construction has been going on since Nov. “We met the owner in January 2016 and got the thumbs-up, signed the lease in February, and from February to November, it was finding a construction company, getting the permits, etc. “Eventually, we landed on 27 Biltmore,” he continues. From there, he and Napelitano spent four months scouting locations online and pounding the Asheville pavement, considering along the way a number of familiar properties, including the Wall Street space now occupied by Trade and Lore and the Patton Avenue spot that now houses Sonora Cucina Mexicana. Thus started the immense journey of turning an idea into an actuality. “I came up for three or four days in early September of 2015 to check Asheville out and said, ‘Yeah, this is awesome,'” says Liebowitz. There are places that serve pizza, but you’ve got to pick a table, you’ve got to sit down - there’s no easy pizza by the slice,” says Napelitano. “So I called Jon up and said, ‘What the heck are you doing? You want to come up to Asheville and open up a pizzeria?'” ![]() I remember walking around town and noticing that there wasn’t actually a pizzeria. After retiring from the business in 2013 and returning to Syracuse, Napelitano decided to move to Asheville in 2015 and unexpectedly found himself contemplating opening up another pizzeria. Pizza for nearly 25 years in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he formed a strong relationship with Liebowitz. Napelitano previously owned and operated Mr. Manicomio, which means “madhouse” in Italian, is the joint project of food industry veteran and Syracuse, N.Y., native Mike Napelitano and rising kitchen star Jonathan Leibowitz. The prime downtown location will sling thin-crust pizza, Italian restaurant staples including subs, pasta and salads and locally sourced vegetarian options, as well as beer, wine, hard cider and coffee. Ashevilleans who love eating no-nonsense, New York-style pizza while drinking beer on a patio can rejoice. The epic 18-month project that is Manicomio Pizza is in the home stretch of construction with the goal of opening by the end of June. ![]()
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