“We wanted to offer a full-scale restaurant/bar/dolce and the opportunity presented itself in Urbana with this location,” said owner Tom Thompson.
The Springfield location at 601 N. Fountain Ave., which had been open since 2021, closed at the end of summer. The restaurant’s name is a play on the country name of Italy and Thompson’s Sicilian roots.
“Fast forward four years later, we wanted to continue to grow and be a full-scale restaurant and the Urbana location happened to come available right when I was looking to expand,” Thompson said.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The difference between the two locations is the new one will have a bigger variety of sweets (hence the “dolce” reference), full bar with wine, beer and liquor, indoor seating with temperature-controlled environment, and more comfortable seating. There will also be some outdoor seating in spring and summer, but not at the capacity of the Springfield location.
In Urbana, the place will start with five to seven employees, Thompson said, explaining he’s excited and overwhelmed with opening the new location.
“Even though we will have the same quality food and desserts, our business model has changed slightly with us not primarily being an outdoor venue, but an upscale, Italian destination, restaurant, bar and sweet shop,” he said. “We won’t be serving on plastic plates or utensils, we will have regular dishes, silverware, and glasses. The location is very large and we are so excited to be able to create a space that people will love.”
Thompson said he posted on Eatly’s Facebook that he was doing soft opening reservations only “in order for us to get used to the space and not to compromise on customer service and quality of food.”
“We have close to 400 followers who have reserved a chance to get in for sometime the month of December. Those individuals will be the ones allowed to dine the month of December,” he said. “Then the general public who do not have a standing reservation will be welcomed with the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony in January (with a date to be set soon).”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Thompson was born in Mechanicsburg and spent time as a kid in Urbana. He moved to Los Angeles when he was 18, traveled and lived in other large cities and then lived in New York for over 12 years before moving back to take care of his parents.
“I’ve always loved the historic homes and antique stores with the quaint downtown,” he said.
Thompson initially wanted to open Eatly in Urbana, but there was nothing for sale at the time. With his background and license as a hairstylist and more, Thompson decided to buy the Springfield property and open up a business to support the community and his family. It includes a Victorian house, a commercial building he previously used for a salon that closed because of COVID, and the former outdoor eatery.
“I figured opening up Eatly as a outdoor venue would be allowed in order to do business during the time span all businesses had to be closed,” he said. “We got approvals and that’s when we put our outdoor eatery, Eatly, in the back of the property. We operated with an outdoor kitchen where everything was prepared and we were only open seasonally due to extreme weather conditions.”
With his time living and working on the same property, Thompson said, “where else could you live and work and provide for a family, and have the best support from a community. Springfield residents have been so amazing and they’ve been supportive and we consider them family.”
Thompson is selling the multiuse commercial/residential property, not the Eatly name or business, and plans to move to Urbana once it sells.
“We are so honored to be a part of Urbana and we look forward to adding value to the town,” he said.
Hours at the new location will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
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