The pizza that Massimo’s restaurant customers enjoy will not change, but the location and the name of the restaurant will.
For months, the new location at 510 Front St. has been barred from view by thick brown paper covering every window, keeping the progress at Massimo Cataldo’s soon to be Front Street Pizza Pub largely shielded from the curious eye.
This New Year’s Eve, Cataldo, who owns the property with his wife Cindy, will open the restaurant for a sneak peek from 4 to 7 p.m. Appetizers and samples of pizza will be available.
A band will also give the brand new stage a test run and perform for New Year’s Eve guests from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. There is a $10 cover to see the band. The cover includes a champagne toast.
The restaurant will have a soft opening starting Wednesday, Jan. 4.
Cataldo’s family members are first generation Italians who grew up in the restaurant business. Cataldo’s father owned the pizza place Vesuvio’s in Elkhart.
In 2006, Cataldo opened Massimo’s Pizzeria restaurant and Backside Bar at 20 E. Main St., which has since cultivated a following created through food and a good hang out atmosphere. But Cataldo said it became apparent that they had outgrown the restaurant space.
“We needed more room,” Cataldo said. “We now own this property and me and my wife are investing in our future.”
While growth was great throughout the years, Cataldo said they also reached a flat line point, where because of lack of space they could not have any more room for more customers who were discouraged by the crowd size and would leave.
He and Cindy bought the 5,000-square-foot property at 510 Front St. last year. The space is 2,000 square feet bigger than the former location.
Modeled with industrial style decor, the restaurant atmosphere, which was designed with input from Michael Armstrong of Astrong Construction, includes a bar top decorated with a variety of street signs. Behind the bar, metal pipes and wood create shelving and some of the walls are lined with diamond-plated steel.
The move, decor and brand new name are a transition to rebrand the restaurant and continue to grow a customer basis, Cataldo said.
The space also includes a summer patio with a view of the River Front Park. An outside bar for the patio area is expected to be open during the summer.
Among the changes will come additions to the menu and a “revamp” of the sandwich menu. Cataldo said it would take about six months of settling in before he makes these menu additions. He said he also wants to eventually offer grill items.
Those who have learned to love Massimo’s for its pizza need not fear about this aspect of the restaurant changing.
“The one constant is going to be the pizza,” Cataldo said. “The pizza is still going to be the same. The same quality and the same ingredients.”
With more space and more customers, Cataldo said he would add 10 to 15 employees to his staff.
Since announcing the move, Cataldo said many loyal customers are excited about the changes.
“I have seen [response on] social media sites and of course you have your regulars that are uber pumped,” Cataldo said. “They have stuck with us through thick and thin.”
He said despite how packed the restaurant would get, loyal customers still enjoyed the atmosphere and continued to return. Throughout the transition process, many customers have expressed an eagerness to see the new location.
“It is going to be a new spot to hang out at in town,” he said.
General manager Sarah Martin said that one change they are also trying to initiate is the atmosphere and culture. The aim she said will be to have a place where families can come and eat pizza and have a good time, while those who want to come to the pizza place later can enjoy live music and the bar scene.
“There is room to provide table service,” Martin said. “There is room to provide an experience.”
With this atmosphere, good food and weekend live music, Cataldo said he hopes for people from all over Michiana will sit down, enjoy pizza and have a good time with family and friends.
“We want to be a destination,” Cataldo said. “We do not want to be just a stop.”