Hermanos, Vinnie’s pizza sold to local restaurateur

GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Longtime Hermano’€™s employee Jonna Gaskell is happy to hear that new owner Greg Tandy wants to keep things the same at the restaurant as she sets up on Wednesday. Gaskell works in the kitchen, as a bartender and as a waitress there for nearly 29 years.

Longtime Hermano’€™s employee Jonna Gaskell is happy to hear that new owner Greg Tandy wants to keep things the same at the restaurant as she sets up on Wednesday. Gaskell works in the kitchen, as a bartender and as a waitress there for nearly 29 years. GEOFF FORESTER photos / Monitor staff

Greg Tandy is also planning on opening Vinnie’€™s Pizzaria back up at its present location.

Greg Tandy is also planning on opening Vinnie’€™s Pizzaria back up at its present location.

Greg Tandy is also planning on bringing Vinnie’s back at its present location.

Greg Tandy is also planning on bringing Vinnie’s back at its present location. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Hermano’s has been a fixture in downtown Concord for 40 years at a few locations.

Hermano’s has been a fixture in downtown Concord for 40 years at a few locations. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Longtime Hermano’s employee Jonna Gaskell is happy to hear that new owner Greg Tandy wants to keep everything the same at the restaurant as she sets up for the afternoon opening on Wednesday, February, 7, 2024. Gaskell works both in the kitchen and outside as a bartender and waitress and has worked at the establishment for nearly 29 years.

Longtime Hermano’s employee Jonna Gaskell is happy to hear that new owner Greg Tandy wants to keep everything the same at the restaurant as she sets up for the afternoon opening on Wednesday, February, 7, 2024. Gaskell works both in the kitchen and outside as a bartender and waitress and has worked at the establishment for nearly 29 years. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

By DAVID BROOKS

Monitor staff

Published: 02-07-2024 2:01 PM

Modified: 02-11-2024 11:13 AM

A team including the owner of Tandy’s Top Shelf restaurant in Concord has bought Hermanos Cocina Mexicana, one of the city’s oldest single-owner restaurants, and will be re-opening Vinnie’s Pizza.

“Hermanos – we’re going to keep it the same. It has been a landmark in Concord for 40 years, so why change that?” said Greg Tandy, who purchased the business with property developer Scott Austin. “All the employees are staying, we’re making no changes.”

Hermanos dates back to April 27, 1984, when it opened at 11 Hills Ave., between Storrs and South Main streets. Its building previously held Caring Gifts and was built as a meat-processing plant, handling sides of beef brought by train on an adjoining rail line, according to Jane Valliere, who owned Hermanos for decades.

Valliere, 65, said she has been looking to get out of the hectic restaurant business for close to five years. That idea was sidelined by the pandemic, but as business recovered last year she put the restaurant and its building on the market.

“It’s been difficult but we’ve survived. … We do more takeout than we did prior to COVID, right now we’re doing well,” she said.

The restaurant sold quickly and Valliere is transitioning to retirement. “I still have a million things to wrap up. I’m a consultant to them if they need me.”

Vinnie’s Pizzaria, a popular restaurant squeezed into a narrow strip of land between South Main and West Street, closed suddenly last summer without explanation and never reopened. Tandy said work is being done on the building and expects it to open in a month or two.

Tandy’s Top Shelf restaurant in Eagle Square opened in 2010 after that building had been empty for two years.

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Tandy said he and Austin are “looking at a few other locations as well” to expand within the area’s restaurant industry.

It’s useful to own restaurants close to each other, he said, because they can swap supplies if needed and even share staff, Tandy said. Hiring and keeping restaurant staff has been difficult since the pandemic, a problem that is often cited as a factor when eateries shut down.