AMHERST — As Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant & Bar, operating from a prominent location at the north end of downtown, closes after five years, a vacant building on University Drive will welcome a new eatery.
The 40 University Drive site will become Little Petroni’s, a restaurant specializing in Italian-American classics. It will be run by the Yee family.
At Garcia’s, 51 East Pleasant St., a notice was posted on social media that the restaurant will be closing:
“It has truly been an honor to serve Amherst and to be part of this incredible community,” the owners wrote. “We are deeply grateful for every guest who walked through our doors, every meal shared, every celebration, every conversation and every memory made along the way.”
In the message, the owners invited customers to Tacos El Güero Taqueria in Springfield and Frontera Grill in Chicopee “where we’ll continue doing what we love — bringing people together through food, hospitality and family.”
From 1992 until spring 2018, Bertucci’s restaurant was at the site, and when it closed, plans were unveiled for a five-story, mixed-use building using that property and the next-door property at 33-37 East Pleasant St., where The Spoke is located. That development, with 68 apartments, never happened after the Historical Commission imposed a one-year demolition delay on the property and the property owner abandoned plans.
In 2021, Garcia’s opened in the building — originally constructed in 1946 as an auto repair shop and later used as Rowe’s Chrysler-Plymouth dealership — following the closing of the ill-fated Porta, a restaurant that ran afoul of town and state liquor laws, with underage alcohol consumption rampant in its final days.
Meanwhile, Little Petroni’s will be the third restaurant in town operated by the Yee family, joining Johnny’s Tavern and IYA Sushi and Noodle Kitchen.
Nathan Yee, a manager for Yee Hospitality, told the Board of License Commissioners that the restaurant is named after his grandfather’s old racehorse. Yee said it will feature a take on Neapolitan pizza and Italian-American classics, and there will be a full craft cocktail list and beer and wine.
The site originally opened as Savannas Bar & Bistro in 2021 and then became Amherst Public House, but has been vacant for more than a year.
Tom Reidy, an attorney with Bacon Wilson, PC, said the Yee family understands what the market wants, observing they run about a dozen restaurants, including Johnny’s Roadside Diner, just over the line in Hadley.
