A restaurant is planned for the ground level of a Quincy apartment building. What we know
QUINCY − A small Italian restaurant chain plans to open its newest location in Quincy Center this fall.
Evviva Trattoria will be on the ground floor of Nova Quincy, the 171-unit apartment building at 1500 Hancock St., said Tim Cahill, the president and executive director of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce.
He said the restaurant, at Cottage and Hancock streets, will also have outdoor seating in Kilroy Square.
"It’s exciting. It’s an Italian restaurant, which it seems like people are dying for," he said. "It will fill a gap that has been empty for a long time."
Marcie Day, chief operating officer for Evviva (which means "hurray" in Italian), said work on the space is underway.
Day said the space is “super-, super-cool,” and the patio is large and almost like having a second restaurant.
“This space is like nothing we’ve ever had before,” she said. "This plan has been in the works for a while and it's a great spot."
Evviva Trattoria is a Massachusetts-based sister restaurant chain to 110 Grill.
The chain, which has eight locations, opened a 6,200-square-foot restaurant at Hanover Crossing in the fall. It’s an open-concept design – you can see the cook tossing the pizza dough – and offers modern Italian food in a casual atmosphere.
Menu items include lasagna fritters, gnocchi Florentine and an Italian smash burger.
Much of Evviva's menu is either naturally gluten free or can be modified. All locations have an allergy-friendly scratch kitchen and a full bar.
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A challenging Quincy Center location
Day said renovating the Quincy Center space has been somewhat challenging because of its unique shape and the needed equipment, including a wood-fueled stone pizza oven.
"It’s been a challenge, but it's such a cool spot," she said.
Cahill said times have been tough for restaurants because of rising expenses. The Fat Cat, a Quincy Center staple, recently closed, citing "the ever-rising cost of goods and doing business."
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Cahill said chains like Evviva Trattoria seem to be more insulated from such challenges because of their ability to buy in bulk and other factors.
Despite the challenges, Cahill said the ongoing transformation of Quincy Center has made it a destination for restaurants looking to open new locations.
"There's more people, more spending and we're filling up these ground-floor spaces," he said. "The food scene will be as strong as it's ever been in a year or two."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Evviva Trattoria to open its latest location in Quincy Center
