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Date: 3/15/2023
LONGMEADOW — Steve Walker of Grove Real Estate, which owns The Longmeadow Shops, appeared before the Longmeadow Planning Board on March 1 to discuss a restaurant coming to the plaza. The new business’ owners are no stranger to Longmeadow, as Ralph Santaniello and Michael Presnal already own the Italian eatery Posto, just a few doors down.
Plans for the restaurant are still in the initial stages. While there is no name for the eatery yet, Santaniello, who also own The Federal Restaurant and Bar in Agawam with Presnal, said, “We’ve had some stuff in mind for a while.” The restaurant will offer “coastal, Southern California-type food,” and will be centered on tacos and margaritas, he said.
The taqueria will fill the former home of Ume Asian Bistro at 732 Bliss Rd., which closed in December 2022. The location needs some renovating, Santaniello said. Melissa Pevay, marketing manager for Grove Real Estate, noted the interior has not been significantly changed since it was a Friendly’s before it became Ume Asian Bistro. Grove Real Estate is currently emptying the storefront so Santaniello and Presnal can begin fresh. There is expected to be construction in the late spring and summer as the exterior is updated to include windows that open out to the sidewalk, Pevay explained. Santaniello said the restaurant is expected to open in spring 2024.
“There will be three fantastic restaurants in our little quarter-of-a-mile plaza,” Pevay said, referring to the new restaurant, Posto and Max Burger.
Pevay said the storefronts for Posto and the new restaurant had originally housed S. Presley Blake’s businesses when The Longmeadow Shops opened in the 1960s.
“Pres probably picked the best two spots in the Shops,” and they are again home to a single restaurant group, Pevay said.
Explaining why he and Presnal decided to open a new restaurant so close to one of their existing businesses, Santaniello said, “We’re local. We love the Longmeadow Shops.” He added that there is room for more restaurants in Longmeadow, especially as there are none in town that specialize in the same cuisine as their new establishment.
Santaniello also shared that Presnal, who is executive chef as well as co-owner, has a passion for tacos and when cooking for himself, “he makes tacos 70 percent of the time.” In fact, Santaniello said, “Right after we opened [Posto], he kept saying, ‘You know what would be good here...?’”