Toscano's joins "Station Street Restaurants"

by Aaron Reincheld
Staff Writer

As Jon Sparhawk looks around his new restaurant, Toscano’s, 4 Depot St., he describes his plans to convert his office into a wood burning pizza oven, where walls will be knocked down and how the bar will be extended.

For now, however, those plans are on the back burner, and the focus is on attracting customers to the restaurant formerly known as Sylvia’s.

Many of the same people who worked at Sylvia’s, including both the day and night chefs, now are working with the new owners. Sparhawk said he and his wife Jean took over as owners at the end of June 2000.

Though the Italian menu is similar to Sylvia’s, changes have been made, Chef Jana Durham said.

"We did revise it and kind of update it with some old stuff I had done there in 1986," she said. "Some of it is very similar, but many of the items have changed in the last six months. As far as our higher-end seafood and sautés go, we’ve opened that up quite a bit."

Toscano’s brings another change along with the updated menu - the addition of a coffee bar.

The restaurant started serving coffee in the morning three weeks ago, Sparhawk said. The coffee shop closes at 11 a.m., and the lounge serves alcohol in the evening.

The idea for the coffee came from watching students from University Commons and Station Street Apartments, both located nearby, walk by Toscano’s on their way to class, Sparhawk said.

Sparhawk said he is happy with the location, which is easier to find than his other restaurant, the Oak Room, 14 Station St.

The two restaurants have teamed with another nearby restaurant, Lui Lui, 8 Station St. The trio advertise themselves as the "Station Street Restaurants," offering a variety of dining styles to the Athens area, Sparhawk said.

Lui Lui owner Jade Mu said the results of the alliance have yet to be seen, but people could have different courses of a meal at each restaurant to enhance their meals.

"At one restaurant you could have an appetizer, another have the main course and at the other have dessert," Mu said. "But we haven’t really figured out the most efficient way to do that yet."

In the future, the three eateries plan to offer a punch card promotion. After eating three lunches at each restaurant, a person could get a free lunch, Sparhawk said.

This is not the only promotion. Toscano’s has a lunch pasta bar during the week for $6.95. Other specials include a happy hour buffet for $3 on Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m.

Both Toscano’s and the Oak Room offer live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights. With all the choices, Sparhawk said, the restaurants are ideal for people of all ages.

"We can be a place for not only students or townspeople, but a real place to congregate," he said. "We want to be a place of service to Athens and serve the community. We like to see people have a good time."