Pepe's Italian Restaurant moves to Shrewsbury Street, opens Thursday

WORCESTER — Pepe's Italian Restaurant will open at its new location on Shrewsbury Street Thursday.

The restaurant closed at 274 Franklin St. Oct. 2 and for months has been posting updates depicting work inside their new restaurant at 179 Shrewsbury St.

The new location is slated to open at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The Shrewsbury Street restaurant will still feature family photographs of the owners John and Teresa Travaglio and their large extended family, many of whom help run the restaurant, manager Jaclyn DelMonico said, but there will be some new decor, as well.

"It took two years to renovate and it has the brick and old feel but there are some modern things, too," DelMonico said. "We've done a rebranding."

The bar area in a navy blue pain and moon theme is a setting for nighttime fun while the dining room remains family friendly and offers the same, familiar menu as the previous location.

The restaurant received a good review from the Phantom Gourmet which also noted that customers at Teresa Travaglio's hair salon next door to the restaurant's former site would sometimes grab lunch or a glass of wine while waiting for hair dye to take.

That won't change, DelMonico said, since the salon has already moved to the new location in the building the family purchased.

DelMonico said the new space is the same size as the former location, which the family rented, but offers a better layout with more open space and a great atmosphere.

The popular brick oven pizza and specialty drinks will remain on the menu and the wine list has been expanded to include new varieties including Italian spirits, Delmonico said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Pepe's Italian Restaurant moves to Shrewsbury Street in Worcester