ANNVILLE, Pa. (WHTM) — A new, locally owned Mediterranean-style restaurant will soon be unveiled in the coming weeks.
The new restaurant named Room 101: The Med, is owned and operated by Lebanon County native Vito Mannino. For many Lebanon County natives, Vito’s last name may sound familiar – Mannino grew up helping his father run the popular pizza shop named A&M in Palmyra.
According to Mannino, after graduating from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) he helped his father run the Palmyra-based A&M for over 10 years. Today, the former home of A&M in Palmyra is occupied by Lucky’s Pizza.
“Opening my own restaurant has always been a dream and a lifelong goal of mine,” Mannino explained. “I had been searching for a property for the past 2-3 years and this property seemed like a perfect fit for what we wanted to do.”
Mannino acquired the property at 35 West Main Street in Annville about two years ago, and since then he has done a complete renovation of the restaurant. According to Mannino, he tore the building down to its bones and then renovated the entire property.
“We did a complete revamp of the property,” Mannino added. “If you have ever been inside this property in the past, you wouldn’t recognize it anymore.”
The newly renovated 2,700-square-foot establishment features two separate dining rooms and enough seating for up to 65 people. According to Mannino, one dining room has a kitchen view for customers to watch while dining. The second dining room is more private and was designed to have “an outdoor feel”.
It should also be noted that the back dining space with an “outdoor feel” will be available to be rented out for events for up to 25 people.
Room 101: The Med’s menu is equipped with some high-quality Mediterranean-style cuisines. According to Mannino, during his soft opening, friends, and family were big fans of his brick oven-style pizza, lasagna, and the fire-roasted calamari.
To view Room 101: The Med’s full menu, you can click here.
Upon its grand opening, Mannino hopes to create a total of approximately 20 jobs – currently, he is still looking to hire cooks and servers, so if you are interested in applying you can reach out for an application by contacting: Room101themed@gmail.com
Room 101: The Med will be holding its official grand opening sometime in June 2023, and their lunch and dinner hours will be:
- Tuesdays – Wednesdays // 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Thursdays // 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. & 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Fridays // 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. & 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- Saturdays // 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“It’s a dream come true [to open my own restaurant],” Mannino explained. It is unexplainable to have a place drawn on paper and then watch it come to life – it’s a great feeling. We really wanted to bring something different to Lebanon County and I just hope that others enjoy it as much as we do.”
abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
