Primo’s Ristorante: A New Spin on an Old Favorite

Thursday, December 04, 2014

GoLocal Worcester News Team

At 106 Green Street in Worcester, a familiar name makes it's return to rejoin Worcester's large group of Italian restaurants. Primo's Ristorante, formerly of Oxford and Shrewsbury Street reopens it's doors in Worcester's Canal District.

"Timing was everything. It's time once again to allow people to come and enjoy good tasting food. And above and beyond that, be able to recognize someone when they walk through the door, just like Primo's used to be," said Joe Pietro, chef at Primo's Ristorante.

How Primo's Came to Be Again

Angel Rodriguez, owner of Primo's said, "I think it was a combination of the two of us talking about opportunities and talking about the past and how to move forward. We asked ourselves 'Where do we go from here?'

Rodriguez owned the Center Bar and Grill for six years before opening Primo's at the same address. The Center was a sports bar known for it's many televisions with the games on, it's pizza specials, and it's late-night crowd.

"We started a catering company three years ago together, and it just kept coming back to people asking the question, 'Why can't I come down there for a chicken marsala?'" said Rodriguez. "We were dishing out pans and pans worth of marsala, cacciatore, chicken parmesan, and people kept asking if they could come down for it. At the time, we were a sports bar and we had wings and burgers and fries that we did really well, but not to the quality that Primo's did. Our catering menu for years was Primo's in-house menu."

Primo's promotes itself as 'The Canal District's Best Italian Food,' and it's menu is a wide range of pasta, pizza, seafood and poultry. As Rodriguez put it, "At our Grand Opening, two women said they were coming back this weekend because they 'judge a place on the veal.'"

"There's five specials every night. It's the menu that I started at Primo's," said Pietro. "It's your good, basic Italian food. It's rich in flavor, bountiful, and price conscience."

Primo's a Good Fit on Green Street

"They say there's no coincidences," said Pietro. "I came to Shrewsbury Street because Primo's in Oxford had outgrown it's space ten-fold. The biggest thing that came about right now about Primo's was timing again. The economy had been terrible, people weren't going out to eat like they used to, but now they have started to come back out to do so, there are plenty of great restaurants, plenty of great food in the city, but everybody got away from the basics. You have to take something very simple and make it taste good."

According to Pietro, 75% of the original Primo's staff is now back at Green Street.

"Word of mouth is going to spread. Once you come in, and once you see the quality of the food and the freshness of the food, you will want to come back. We have some creative specials, and when you leave here and you look at your check, you will be happy about the experience," said Pietro. "Green Street right now has accessibility off the highway, plenty of parking, and a lack of restaurants. Primo's fills the gap."