ANN ARBOR, MI — The 75-year-old Cottage Inn on East William Street closed its doors last spring, and now Coratti’s is ready to open theirs.
The old building has been transformed into a fun, colorful, open-concept restaurant, with two bocce ball courts, about 220 seats for guests, and a market next door. Vintage bikes hang from the ceiling and metal garage doors open to let in a summer breeze.
This is the second Coratti’s of its kind. The family-owned business started as a fine dining restaurant in Milford before evolving into the pizza bar and bocce concept in Howell. The restaurant had started it’s ongoing expansion in East Lansing when restaurant Owner Peter Coratti learned The Cottage Inn was closing in Ann Arbor, and jumped on it.
“I thought it was just a perfect location for us,” Coratti said. “Between it being a cool city and having the vibe of a college town, it was a no brainer.”
Coratti runs the business with his nephews Peter Pfeffer and Anthony Coratti. They planned for the restaurant to open after a couple months of renovations, but the building needed more work than they expected.
“Our goal was to be open by graduation of last year, and we didn’t quite make it by graduation of this year,” Coratti said. “It’s an old building, and the people before us were here for 75 years. They’re really good people, but when you’re here for 75 years everything’s really old.”
Now, short of an update for the fire-suppression system, everything is ready to go. The restaurant is set to open June 23. The expected hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and later on weekends. The market will likely open at 11 a.m. and close at 10 p.m..
When the space is ready, Coratti recommends new visitors try the pizza first. He and his nephew spent two weeks in Naples, Italy, learning to make traditional Neapolitan pizza, but they have Detroit- and American-style pizzas too. The restaurant will also have a variety of other options including house-made pasta, steak, panuozzo sandwiches, chicken and more.
With items at various price points, the restaurant is a good choice for an affordable meal or a more expensive date night.
“You can have a date night where it could get pricey if you each have entrees, but two college kids could come in and have a pizza and pop or water and get out of here for less than fifteen bucks,” Coratti said.
But, visitors don’t just come to eat; they come to play. Upstairs are two green bocce ball courts with an assortment of colored balls. The courts are around 70 feet long, and separated from the rest of the restaurant by a red-brick wall. The entire upstairs space, complete with a bar, can be reserved for events and parties.
Next-door, the market is unique to the Ann Arbor location. It offers visitors a chance to stop in for gelato, focaccia or Italian sodas without paying for a whole sit down meal.
“I think it’ll be fun for the kids to come in and grab an Italian soda and a really nice veggie bread or pepperoni bread for $5,” Coratti said.
After more than a year of renovations, Coratti said the space turned out the way he wanted it. He is excited to share his passion for pizza and pasta with the Ann Arbor community, and he hopes customers won’t be afraid to have fun.
“We like to be loud and fun. We don’t discourage that,” Coratti said. “If people say ‘it’s too loud in here,’ I’m kind of like, ‘Oh that’s too bad.’”
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