Angelina’s Ristorante Italiano will finally be open for Concord restaurant-goers, almost a year after a burst pipe last December flooded the restaurant.
The 12-table Italian restaurant downstairs at 11 Depot Street held a soft opening for some regular customers on Friday and Saturday and is welcoming the rest of the public back on Tuesday night.
Angelina’s owner Rick Dennison said customers will see some new changes inside the restaurant, including a new bar with seven seats.
“The dining room is, in my opinion, stunning,” Dennison said. While the food menu remains the same, Angelina’s will be offering new wines, beers and Prosecco on tap.
Dennison is excited to finally reopen after long wait times for materials made fixing up the restaurant challenging this summer. A water pipe burst in a third-floor office on December 20, damaging Angelina’s and its upstairs neighbor Revival Kitchen and Bar. Revival sustained less damage and reopened in May.
“This was just the worst timing to do a big project,” Dennison said. Supply chain issues meant long wait times for new plumbing materials and locating specialty items like fire foil for the kitchen hood dragged on for weeks.
While other restaurants have struggled to hire enough people to run their operations in recent months, Dennison isn’t worried, in part because Angelina’s had a small staff before. All of the original kitchen workers and nearly all of the dining room staff will be returning to work, he said.
Dennison said he’s thrilled to have his customers back in his restaurant again.
“I’m so ready to see all the regular guests again and have them come in and share their lives, their birthdays, their anniversaries,” he said. “I’m very blessed to have such wonderful regular customers support the restaurant.”