Published: July 02, 2009 05:27 pm      

LEWISTON: Macri’s Italian Grille to reopen at Clarkson House

Macri’s Italian Grille Restaurant, a longtime city of Niagara Falls favorite, will be re-opening at the Clarkson House in Lewiston in August.

The restaurant, which recently was forced to leave its last location at The Summit Mall when owners decided to close the shopping and business center, will be offering an enhanced menu at the new location that will include Italian favorites, plus some of the foods former Clarkson House customers had come to expect.

“We’re going to try to capitalize on the Clarskson House flair, including some grilled items, veal chops, Catch of the Day, that type of thing,” said Gary Macri, owner of Macri’s.

Macri said he thought of getting out of the business when his restaurant was forced to close. He laughed when he recounted that when his mother, Anne Macri, 79, found out he was thinking of retiring, she said, “what am I going to do?”

Then, after a four-week respite which gave him an opportunity to relax and play a bit of golf, he said he is returning invigorated to the business which his family started more than 60 years ago in Niagara Falls.

“I’m ready to go,” he said.

His mother will work with him at the new location, as will his wife, Vicki, who also works as a teacher consultant at the Harry F. Abate Elementary School.

The mall restaurant, which closed June 6, was a good one for the restaurant and rejuvenated his business. “We did well there, there’s no question about that,” he said.

His new location will provide him with more kitchen space and more modern equipment, plus it has the advantage of a building with “character and charisma.”

The historic Clarkson House building was built on Center Street in 1818, according to Gerry Gismondi of Amendola Property Management, who leased the location to Macri.

“It was one of the first properties constructed after the village was burnt down by the British,” Gismondi said. “Almost all of the building was built with (without) nails,” he added, noting the builders used mortars and pins instead. “If you come in and look around, the few nails you can find are handmade out of wood.”

Macri said he plans to keep the name Macri’s Italian Grille, and plans for a Aug. 1 opening day.

“It’s a new beginning,” he said.