Finelli's

The original location of Finelli's Cafe at 2905 E. Fifth St. has been renovated and reopened — as Finelli's Café on Fifth — by Greenville restaurateur David Finelli.

Rhett Butler/mixer (ENLARGE)

Renovations at Finelli's Cafe on Fifth include the addition of windows to make the dining room brighter.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and features a salad bar, a small buffet for lunch and a menu of what the restaurateur refers to as "simple food: pizza, spaghetti, not fish and steak and chops ... with family-friendly pricing, which means 'cheaper.'"

The breakfast menu, a Finelli's first, includes pancakes ($2.50 for two), French toast ($3.50 for three), platters with two eggs any style, grits and toast ($3.25) and sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches ($4.25). Omelet platters, served with grits and toast, are $3.75-$7.50. A fresh fruit bowl with vanilla yogurt and granola is $6.25.

A $7.50 breakfast buffet will be available from 6-9 a.m. weekdays, with brunch from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

"There is no sit-down breakfast café on this side of town, so we decided to offer breakfast," Finelli said.

Lunch items include cheeseburgers, meatball subs, black bean burgers and classic BLTs. A salad and pasta bar will be offered each weekday for $7.50 for diners in a hurry.

The dinner menu features such Italian specialties as herbed crust pizza, spaghetti with a variety of sauces, Chicken Parmesan, Seafood Cannelloni and lasagna. Desserts include tiramisu, chocolate cake, cannoli and Spumoni ice cream.

Finelli also operates Finelli's Café at 511-G Red Banks Road, but he said he has a soft spot for his first location. "That first restaurant is really special to me," he said. "We spent 10 years there. We started off as a mom-and-pop style Italian restaurant and we want to return to a family-friendly style restaurant."

The Fifth Street restaurant underwent cosmetic renovations including adding windows to make the dining room brighter and creating an outdoor patio. Finelli said he hopes it will "feel like a Tuscany restaurant. The dining room, with its terra-cotta walls with white trim, seats 30.

The patio, with its arbor with climbing roses, seats 30-40, depending on the number of tables set up. "It's a great place to watch the sunset," Finelli said.

Finelli's on Fifth has all ABC permits and offers cocktails, a wine list of 30 wines and draft beer.

Hours are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. Call 754-1977 for reservations or take-out orders.

Meanwhile, across town at the Finelli's Cafe on Red Banks Road, Finelli is taking over the space next door recently vacated by Pink women's clothing boutique. The 1,500-square-foot space will become a banquet room for Finelli's.

Call 695-0020 or visit www.finelliscafe.com. Patrons now may make reservations online.

Pirate's Pub

Greenville's Pirate's Pub restaurant and bar, 1914 Turnbury Drive, has gone back to its roots — with the original owners taking over operations and changing its menu back to sandwiches and its name back to A.J. McMurphy's.

Gary Harris, who had been an owner of A.J. McMurphy's and Pirate's Pub for four years, recently sold the restaurant to original owners Don Acheson and Beth Whitehurst and their son Jaryd Acheson.

A.J.'s opened in 1994 as a neighborhood Irish pub.

"We were among the original owners and were part-owners for 12 years," said Don Acheson, who works in the food-service industry.

"We're going back to being A.J. McMurphy's — a true-blue neighborhood restaurant with a great bar."

Jaryd Acheson said he started washing dishes at A.J.'s when he was 13. He's now general manager.

The decor in the dining room and bar will remain the same, but the menu is getting an overhaul.

A.J.'s favorites being reintroduced include Bring Me the Heater, a blackened chicken breast served on a kaiser roll topped with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, and red onion and a side of salsa; and the Western Club, turkey with bacon, Monterrey jack cheese and mayonnaise grilled on whole wheat bread. Baby back ribs, both half and full racks, are also returning to the menu, along with Pirate's Pub specialties such as Chicken Alfredo Pasta and the Chicken Parmesan.

"We got a few new items as well," Jaryd Acheson said. "We came up with this great blend of chicken, roasted corn, black beans and pepper jack cheese. The ingredients are rolled in the chicken and then cut in little wheels. We call this entree Southwest Chicken; it's served with mixed vegetables and an avocado salad.

"We are also trying a new blackened Ahi tuna dish over pasta with lemon cream sauce with tomatoes and scallions."

Blue-plate specials will be offered during the day, along with nightly specials such as fish and chips or corned beef and cabbage.

The restaurant will open beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Patrons who bring in a church bulletin will receive a 10 percent discount on food.

Call 355-7956.

Johnny's Pizzeria

Johnny's Pizzeria has opened at 728 S.W. Greenville Blvd., Suite 107, across the parking lot from the Greenville Grande theater.

The menu, for eat-in or carry-out, features New York-style pizza, specialty pizzas, salads, cold and hot subs ($5.39-$7.99), calzones and strombolis. Pasta dinners, served with garlic bread, range in price from $6.99-$8.99 and include spaghetti with meatballs, chicken or veal; lasagna; baked ziti; cheese manicotti and Chicken Alfredo.

Appetizers include garlic knots, Buffalo wings and cheese fries. Desserts include cannoli, cheese cake and tiramisu. Non-alcoholic beverages are served.

There is seating for 38 at booths in the nonsmoking dining room and for 12 at outdoor tables.

Hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and noon-9 p.m. Sundays. Call 756-9222.

Bar-B-Cutie

Greenville's Bar-B-Cutie fast-casual barbecue restaurant, 610 Red Banks Road beside Moe's Southwest Grill, is offering a "summer savings" menu and has some new menu items.

"Summer savings" lunch and dinner offerings change weekly and may include BBQ sandwich combo for $3.99, hamburger steak plate with two sides and a drink for $5.99, roast beef or turkey with dressing plate and drink for $5.99, or mesquite chicken salad and drink for $4.99. Patrons may fill out a form with their e-mail address to sign up for the "Cutie Savers" program and receive an e-mailed coupon and information on specials.

New menu items include fried chicken, hickory-smoked sliced turkey breast, smoked sausage, sweet potato, sweet potato fries and ice cream brownie. Stuffed potatoes are now available in regular ($4.99) and large ($6.99) sizes.

The Little Cuties children's menu now includes hamburgers, peanut butter and jelly and peanut butter and banana sandwiches; items on the children's menu are $3.99 each. And youngsters who complete Bar-B-Cutie's monthly Family Fun Workbook receive a card for a free kid's meal and have their name included on the Cutie's Scholar sign.

In addition to take-out family packs, a catering menu also is available. Hickory-smoked barbecue pork served with a choice of two sides and buns is $4.95 for pick-up or $6.95 per person for delivery service and beverages. Other options include roast beef buffet, Virginia baked ham buffet, fried or grilled chicken buffet and beef brisket buffet; prices per person vary. Minimum order is 15 people.

The restaurant has a drive-through window. Call 329-1BBQ (329-1227) to place orders.

Hot Dish is a weekly column of restaurant and food news in The Daily Reflector. Call Jane Hudson at 329-9577 or e-mail jhudson@coxnc.com.