Depending on the method of counting, the new Marco's Grilled Cheese has been a three month, one year, or two-decade project in the making.
For owner Mark Paterno, it feels more like the latter.
“It’s really kind of 20 years in the making," he said. "Just taking what we’ve learned over 20 years and narrowing it down to the capacity of the space we have to work with. We’ll have to find our sea legs to a certain degree but, we're just trying to really create a really well-run, fast machine.”
On Monday, Dec. 9, at 11 a.m. Mark and Jade Paterno plan to open the doors of their new restaurant at 117 North Linn Street in downtown Iowa City.
This isn't the first time the couple has opened those very same doors for an eatery. Back in 2018, the couple took ownership of Devotay, a decades-old Iowa City fixture in the same location.
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After about a year running Devotay, the Paternos opted instead for a clean slate, opening the Linn Street Dive earlier this year.
However, mere months after opening, an act of vandalism causing thousands in damages forced its doors closed indefinitely earlier this year. It was unclear for months whether the restaurant would re-open.
“After the vandalism, it was just shell shock in terms of the magnitude of everything going on and the damage," Mark told the Press-Citizen back in September. "We were left with a restaurant space that was shot, more or less, and it made me wonder if I should be in the food business."
Mark and Jade ultimately decided to take another crack at the Iowa City restaurant scene in a more familiar manner. It was announced in a Facebook post on Sept. 26 that Marco's Grilled Cheese — the name behind the 20-year-old food cart owned by Mark — would occupy the space.
While Marco's Grilled Cheese will continue to operate out of the food cart, as usual, downtown denizens now have a new option.
The interior of Marco's Grilled Cheese's first brick and mortar locations is an assemblage of the 20-year history of the Marco's name: The original Marco's Taxi Co. sign is to be mounted on the wall, the original owner of George's Gyro's came around to give the Paternos a refresher on gyro making and Jade spoke of their plan to sell game-day memorabilia.
The new location will not only include the menus of the three popular food carts the Paternos operate (Marco's Grilled Cheese, George's Gyros and Paco's Tacos), but food unique to this location.
"Mark had the idea of adding lobster or smoked salmon to some items to make them more special, like a lobster quesadilla," said Jade.
There will also be soup, a multitude of new sandwiches, appetizers and more as the Paternos settle in after the opening.
"This is a brand-new venture, kind of," said Jade. "Mark's been doing food carts for a long, long time. We did have a restaurant here but we’re setting up a brand new point of sales system. I’m hoping that things go really really smoothly and that our practices makes it just a lot easier to give people a great experience.”
https://www.press-citizen.com/story...and-mortar-restaurant-downtown-ic/2599297001/
For owner Mark Paterno, it feels more like the latter.
“It’s really kind of 20 years in the making," he said. "Just taking what we’ve learned over 20 years and narrowing it down to the capacity of the space we have to work with. We’ll have to find our sea legs to a certain degree but, we're just trying to really create a really well-run, fast machine.”
On Monday, Dec. 9, at 11 a.m. Mark and Jade Paterno plan to open the doors of their new restaurant at 117 North Linn Street in downtown Iowa City.
This isn't the first time the couple has opened those very same doors for an eatery. Back in 2018, the couple took ownership of Devotay, a decades-old Iowa City fixture in the same location.
ADVERTISING
After about a year running Devotay, the Paternos opted instead for a clean slate, opening the Linn Street Dive earlier this year.
However, mere months after opening, an act of vandalism causing thousands in damages forced its doors closed indefinitely earlier this year. It was unclear for months whether the restaurant would re-open.
“After the vandalism, it was just shell shock in terms of the magnitude of everything going on and the damage," Mark told the Press-Citizen back in September. "We were left with a restaurant space that was shot, more or less, and it made me wonder if I should be in the food business."
Mark and Jade ultimately decided to take another crack at the Iowa City restaurant scene in a more familiar manner. It was announced in a Facebook post on Sept. 26 that Marco's Grilled Cheese — the name behind the 20-year-old food cart owned by Mark — would occupy the space.
While Marco's Grilled Cheese will continue to operate out of the food cart, as usual, downtown denizens now have a new option.
The interior of Marco's Grilled Cheese's first brick and mortar locations is an assemblage of the 20-year history of the Marco's name: The original Marco's Taxi Co. sign is to be mounted on the wall, the original owner of George's Gyro's came around to give the Paternos a refresher on gyro making and Jade spoke of their plan to sell game-day memorabilia.
The new location will not only include the menus of the three popular food carts the Paternos operate (Marco's Grilled Cheese, George's Gyros and Paco's Tacos), but food unique to this location.
"Mark had the idea of adding lobster or smoked salmon to some items to make them more special, like a lobster quesadilla," said Jade.
There will also be soup, a multitude of new sandwiches, appetizers and more as the Paternos settle in after the opening.
"This is a brand-new venture, kind of," said Jade. "Mark's been doing food carts for a long, long time. We did have a restaurant here but we’re setting up a brand new point of sales system. I’m hoping that things go really really smoothly and that our practices makes it just a lot easier to give people a great experience.”
https://www.press-citizen.com/story...and-mortar-restaurant-downtown-ic/2599297001/
