A family-owned Avondale restaurant regarded as a neighborhood staple is on the move.
After nearly a decade, Ale Pie House is relocating from 3951 St. Johns Ave. in Jacksonville to 1580 Wells Road at Wells Crossing Neighborhood Retail Center in Orange Park.
The restaurant will be slightly more than a mile east of Orange Park Mall in the main retail corridor of Wells Road.
The popular restaurant is known for its made-to-order, handcrafted pizza, especially Chicago stuffed pies, and authentic family recipe pasta, as well as Grandma’s meatballs, stromboli, calzone, wings and homemade Italian-style Garlic Cheese Bread.
Owner Mario Kocibelli and his family, along with a crew from Reads Moving Systems of Jacksonville, on March 29 were loading up the kitchen equipment and other furnishings to take them to the location.
“We plan to open by hopefully the first week of May, the Mother’s Day weekend, if everything goes well,” Kocibelli told the Times-Union.
Ale Pie House closed temporarily at the end of business on March 28 to begin the transition to the Orange Park location.
“We’ve been here 9 1/2 years, and the lease is over. That’s why we decided to go to the other location,” he said.
He said the decision to move wasn’t easy. They are going to miss Avondale.
“I was so happy with the whole community over here. Very friendly, good clientele,” said Kucibelli, noting a lot of their Avondale customers and neighbors came out to say goodbye on March 27 and 28 as word spread about the upcoming move.
“A lot of pictures were taken,” he said of the emotional farewells.
Only their location is changing, said Kucibelli, who’s been in the restaurant business more than 25 years, including previously working eight years as a banquet chef at The Lodge & Club resort in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The menu, staff, and welcoming hospitality that made Ale Pie House an Avondale neighborhood favorite will remain the same, he said.
When Ale Pie House reopens, it will also have the same hours. It will be 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, Kucibelli said.
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
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Dining and Cooking