SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — A’tera 519 is a fine dining restaurant that opened in Downtown Scranton in late 2024 and just over a year later has earned a triple-A four diamond award, meaning its defined by triple A as a “culinary experience to savor and enjoy”. It is the only four diamond awarded restaurant in Lackawanna County.
A’tera 519 is the brainchild of Sheila Bonanno, Basalyga Hospitality’s director of operations and business development, who said winning this award had always been on her bucket list.
“It’s a status, it’s not an award. It’s something you earn. It’s something you have to keep,” explained Bonanno. “So, you have to have that status and that standard 365 days a year because you never know when the inspector’s coming back and they come back, you know incognito. So, when they get here, you have no idea until after you hear. So, receiving this is monumental. But now the task at hand is to keep it, right? So that’s the most important, is keeping that standard all the time.”
The grading system goes from one to five diamonds and once a restaurant applies, they are visited by an undercover inspector who grades the restaurant on its food, service, and décor. Now after winning this award, Bonanno has her eyes on other Basalyga Hospitality restaurants that she thinks could even win the elusive five diamonds.
Dining and Cooking