Big city feel, small town
Ebensburg restaurant well-known for its mix of ambiance, camaraderie and fresh foodBy Jimmy Mincin, jmincin@altoonamirror.com
Article Photos
Fact Box
Amici's Restaurant
Address: 102 S. Center St., Ebensburg
Hours: Amici's Restaurant is open from 3 to 10 p.m. Mondays, 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 3 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Closed on Sundays and all major holidays.
Price range: $8.95 to $29.95
Dress: Smart casual
Atmosphere: Upscale casual
Alcohol: Liquor, wine and beer
Specialties: Homemade gnocchi, homemade ravioli, steak and seafood dishes, veal marsala or picatta, crab cakes
Seating capacity: 125 in dining area, 38 in bar
Reservations: Highly recommended on Fridays
and Saturdays
Amici's Restaurant began in 1999 as a pizza shop in downtown Ebensburg.
Six years later, Nick Persio, 62, who co-owns the restaurant with his son Chris, 38, envisioned something on a grander scale, renovating a nearby building - only a half block up the street - and turning it into what would become one of the town's most famous landmarks - not to mention an Italian eatery that would attract not only locals, but regulars from surrounding areas such as Johnstown, Altoona, Pittsburgh, Indiana and Somer-set.
"You have to create an experience for people ... a big city feel in a small town," said Nick Persio. "(Typically), you'd have to go to a major metropolitan area to find a restaurant like this. I had a guy here from Italy the other night who said this is the most authentic (Italian) place he's found since leaving Italy. I thought that was a great compliment."
"We just try to be as authentic as possible," Chris Persio added.
The restaurant's interior indicates just how serious the Persios are about authenticity - from the rosy red walls, copper bar and kitchen canopy and drop ceilings to the stained glass windows, marbled foyer floor, ambient lights and grate-covered radiators.
But beyond creating an evocative atmosphere, the Persios pride themselves on offering an expansive menu consisting of seafood, meat and vegetable dishes prepared with fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.
''We're very quality oriented because we use only fresh ingredients, and our fish and steaks are all dry-aged. We cut them in-house,'' Nick Persio said. "We also make our own raviolis, eggplant and gnocchis. It's a very labor-intensive freshness."
The menu ranges from choices such as homemade gnocchi, pasta and meatballs, and shrimp and scallops to more sophisticated fare such as filet mignon, dry-rubbed hanger steak and chicken marsala, said Chris Persio, citing pasta dishes, crab cakes, steak and seafood dishes as the restaurant's main calling cards.
The No. 1 best seller: the Shrimp and Crab Fra Diavolo dinner (pasta tossed with large shrimp and jumbo crab meat in a spicy tomato cream sauce).
"That's been our No. 1 dish for six years now," Nick Persio said. "It's made in our fresh marinara sauce ... which is the basis for everything we make here."
Then there's the service.
"Amici," after all, means "friend" in Italian, Nick Persio said, adding that most of the credit for the restaurant's friendly reputation goes to its staff.
"We give them the quality product, but they actually deliver it to the customer," he said. "Any successful business is built on the back of its employees."
Cambria County Judge Timothy Creany, 63, of Ebensburg has been coming to Amici's at least once a week with his wife, Anne, 61, a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, since the original pizza shop opened.
"Anne and I often travel to Michigan and other major metropolitan areas, and we always use Amici's as a gold standard," Timothy Creany said. "We eat seafood a good bit, and they bring it in fresh every week. I love the calamari, shrimps and scallops served in the marinara sauce. (Chris and Nick) also make an excellent (black) sea bass recipe (with sauteed spinach and artichoke hearts)."
For sweet lovers, there's choices such as cannoli (a deep-fried tube of pastry filled with sweetened and flavored ricotta cheese) and tiramisu (cake infused with a liquid such as coffee or rum, layered with a rich cheese filling, and topped with grated chocolate).
Coffees include a variety of espressos and cappuccinos.
For Jeff Kimball, 56, of Ebensburg, it's a combination of all the aforementioned attributes that keeps him coming to Amici's with his wife, Debbie, 55, at least three or four times a week - for the last 10 years.
"They treat you very well, and the service and food is always great," Jeff Kimball, chief executive officer at Robert L. Kimball & Associates Inc. in Ebensburg, said. "I've tried veal picatta everywhere I go - (Amici's) has some of the best you can get anywhere."
Amici's menu also includes a wide variety of ever-changing draft beers, top-shelf liquors and a wine selection of more than 150 different bottles, said manager Kim Brush, adding wine lists also are ever-changing to complement the restaurant's seasonal menus.
"We carry seasonal beer, but we also have our regular beers - Guinness, Stella (Artois), Bud Light and Yeungling," Brush, 33, said. "Our house wines pretty much stays the same, but we cater to our customers - if they request something, we make sure we get it in."
Waiter Jimmy Au, 28, of Ebensburg said he sees a wide range of customers coming into the restaurant, ranging in age from their early 20s to late 80s. He descibed patrons' typical mode of dress as "dressy casual." or jeans and a dress shirt.
"Although it's a finer dining place, I'd say that by and large we get a casual clientele," he said. " ... it's a relaxed atmosphere. You work here long enough, you really get to know the people - and they're all great. I like coming to work every day."
Mirror Staff Writer Jimmy Mincin is at 946-7460.
