Family recipes at the heart of Berardi Bros. Pizzeria in Southampton
Their grandparents started Berardi Bros. in Philly in 1975. Fifty years later, Nick and Mike Berardi share how they’ve continued the family tradition.
A new restaurant and bar could open in place of the New Hope Star Diner in Solebury as early as this summer.
On Wednesday, the township’s board of supervisors voted unanimously to approve an inter-municipal liquor license transfer from the recently closed T.G.I. Fridays in Middletown to the former diner property on Lower York Road.
“I’m so delighted to know the diner is going to get a new lease on life. That’s great, and so I look forward to it with excitement,” Township Supervisor John Francis said.
During the public hearing, cousins Frank Picone and Anthony Adragna shared their plans to turn the diner into a full-service Italian restaurant and bar, where the two would bring together their combined years of experience in the Bucks County restaurant industry.
“My cousin, Anthony, and me, we’ve been in the restaurant business a long time, decades. I grew up in it, as did he,” said Picone, who worked in his father’s pizza shop, V&S Pizzeria in Fairless Hills.
His cousin, he added, formerly owned Café Antonio in Morrisville before selling it in 2019.
Picone and Adragna are currently in a lease purchase agreement for the property.
Following the supervisor’s vote, the license transfer is subject to final approval from the Pennsylvania liquor control board. Picone said the license would help contribute toward the success of the restaurant, which they aim to open in July.
“There’s a lot to do in the building to get it up to code. We’re keeping our fingers crossed on that,” he said.
New Hope Star Diner closed in November 2023 prior to being listed for sale the following year.
Reporter Michele Haddon covers local news, small business, food and drink, economic revitalization, art and culture for The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times at PhillyBurbs.com. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.