Amato’s to bring Italian dining to Star City
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Since 1902, Amato’s has been selling pizza, pasta and sandwiches to customers in southern Maine, and now the Italian restaurant is coming to Presque Isle.
Micah Desmond and his wife, Jessica, recently signed a franchisee agreement and will be opening in mid-April.
“We’re going to be located at 379 Main St. between the Salvation Army Family Store and Country Collectibles,” said Desmond. “From what I’m told it’s where Kentucky Fried Chicken used to be years ago.
“We’re utilizing roughly 3,900 square feet,” he said, “and we’ll have both front and rear entrances/exits.”
Amato’s offers such fare as hot and cold sandwiches, rollups, pasta lunches and dinners, pizzas, calzones and salads.
The new owner had been researching the possibility of having an Amato’s in the Star City for the last eight to nine months.
“It all really came about just from visiting one in the Bangor area,” said Desmond. “We fell in love with the food, the atmosphere … the restaurant as a whole. As I began to research it, I realized it was very affordable to own a franchise so we decided to go for it.”
After considering other locations, Desmond decided on the 379 Main St. property.
“We had been approved by the company to own a franchise and then we finally found this place about a month and a half ago,” he said. “I grew up in Presque Isle and we just recently moved back. The whole attitude of rebuilding the downtown has really caught on and we found that the movie theater had reopened and there were some small shops opening, so we decided we wanted to be on Main Street.
“With this particular location, when you’re driving down Academy Street, you’re going to see our sign. When you’re at the stop light on Main Street — either going north or south — you’re going to be stopping right in front of our building, so it’s got high, high visibility and high traffic flow in those areas,” said Desmond. “The clincher was the back is already set up to have a fairly large sign, and unlimited parking in the back of the building. With entrances in both the front and the back, it should be very convenient for people. We’re also fairly close to the university as far as walking distance, so I think we should see a fair amount of customers from there, as well.”
Renovations to the existing facility began Monday.
“We’re hoping to have all the renovations done by the first week of April,” said Desmond. “It’s a lot of cosmetic work. We’re going to be putting in a new ceiling and new flooring, and do a really good cleanup and paint job on the inside. I’m excited about it.”
The local Amato’s is expected to employ a combination of 12 to 15 full- and part-time workers.
“We’re hoping to hire some high school kids, as well,” Desmond said.
Before entering the food service industry, Desmond had worked as the operations manager at Northeast Packaging for five and a half years.
“It’s a huge jump from what I’m accustomed to, but I was ready for something new and different. Being in production at Northeast Packaging, you work a lot of hours, are always on-call and things like that. I’m going to be in the same boat with Amato’s, but after talking to my wife, we decided that at this time in our lives — and age — what better time than right now to get something into Presque Isle and help with the downtown, employment issues and give people another option,” the 28-year-old said, noting that his wife had worked at Al’s Diner in Mars Hill for nine years. “There’s not a lot of places that you can go and get something different to eat.”
Presque Isle will be Amato’s northernmost restaurant. Presently the nearest site is in Bangor, and the restaurant also has locations in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Desmond said the Presque Isle Career Center is accepting applications and will be holding interviews March 22-23.
For more information about Amato’s, log onto www.amatos.com.
