Great Food, Great Service The Mantra At

My Place Restaurant

Serving great food, with great service at reasonable prices has been the mantra at Newtown’s My Place Restaurant for more than 25 years.

Opened as a luncheonette by Louise Tambascio in 1979, in one of a string of storefronts that later became Big Y, it was a popular place for breakfast and lunch. In 1989 her sons John and Mark took an adjacent store to start a New York-style pizzeria in combination with provincial Italian cuisine dinners. Three years later, the wall between the two establishments came down and My Place began serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week.

When the Big Y came to town, the Tambascios relocated their operations in 1998 to the extensively renovated building fronting Queen Street that had long served as Newtown’s post office before the post office moved to Commerce Road. The building’s past life is reflected in My Place’s logo and menu design: the breakfast menu opens like an envelope and the stamp motif is evident in all of the menus.

 “One of the biggest advantages of operating an independent restaurant,” notes John Tambascio, “is the ability to know our customers and respond to changing demand.”

The My Place décor is inviting, from the moment customers open the foyer doors. Local artist Claudia Coopersmith painted “bricks” on portions of the wall in the takeout area and trailing vines. Spicy pumpkin-colored walls with heather peach create an atmosphere as warm as the welcome extended by the Tambascio family. The homey feel continues with another Coopersmith mural on the wall of the private side room.

A longtime favorite gathering spot for coffee drinkers, My Place serves Seattle’s Best coffee and teas and customers have the option of preparing their beverages to their exact preference.

“Twenty years ago, coffee was pretty much coffee,” said Mr Tambascio. “Now coffee tastes have become more sophisticated, customers want more flavor options, and we have joined with Seattle’s Best, which makes smooth but bold coffees in specialized equipment, to provide them to our customers.”

In recognition of changing lifestyles and the growing adult communities in Newtown, My Place offers a weekday pre fixe menu, and specials for breakfast and lunch: diners can choose a soup, salad, sandwich, and drink combo for $6.95, or a burger, fries, and drink for $7.95.

Entrees are served with bread and a choice of salad or soup on the dinner menu, which is heavily Italian and offers selections such as pasta Margarita, and chicken and steak specials. The restaurant also features whole wheat pasta. Popular items are the roasted vegetable ravioli, topped with oven roasted tomatoes in a garlic basil wine sauce for $14.95; and the Roasted Apple and Goat Cheese Salad, available in two sizes. “We strive to stay on top of current food trends,” said Mr Tambascio. The menu also reflects the growing trend toward healthier eating, he said.

Although the red brick building with green awnings fronts on Queen Street, the handicapped accessible entrance is off the parking lot between the restaurant and Bank of America. This brings customers into the takeout area, a very busy place on weekend nights. All of the dishes on the menu are available as takeout. Mr Tambascio says about 300 thin-crust pizzas are processed on a typical Friday night, some 150 to 200 on Saturdays. My Place uses a computer system to keep track of all orders, which enables the employees to give accurate wait times to anyone calling in for pickup or delivery. My Place delivers daily to all of Newtown between the hours of 4 and 9 pm only.

The dining room accommodates 115, which includes the enclosed section that can hold private parties up to 40. My Place considers itself to be family friendly, and provides toys and coloring material for children while they wait.

In a nod to parents’ concerns about what children eat, rather than “everything on the children’s menu coming with fries,” Mr Tambascio notes that children now have a choice of a tossed salad, fruit cup, or applesauce with their entrees.

Just off of the take-out area and next to the spacious dining room is the small, but well-received bar. Not only does My Place offer full bar service, and any wine that is in a bottle can be ordered by the glass, but the restaurant is renowned for its extraordinary selection of beers from around the world. Six rotating choices are always on tap. Mark Tambascio is a master brewer and a national beer judge. With his expertise and connections, My Place regularly offers brews found only in select bars and traveling beer aficionados from across the country regularly stop in, having learned of My Place on the Internet.

Menus and other information about My Place can be found at its website, www.MyPlacePizza.com.

My Place Restaurant, 8 Queen Street, open from 5:30 am to 10 pm Monday–Saturday, 6 am to 9 pm on Sunday; 270-7061. All major credit cards accepted.