By
Sam Killian
Staff Writer
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| Italian
House waitress Breccia Gleichauf serves, clockwise
from the left, Jack Hall, Elizabeth Osborne, Lily
Hendrickson, Autum Hall and Dettah Hendrickson June
27. |
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JANESVILLE — Edmund Halabi never believed he would be
in the position he finds himself this week.
After 20 years in the same location near Craig High School,
the owner of the Italian House Restaurant will move his
operation into a newer, larger facility.
“This is something that takes years and years of saving
money,” Halabi said. “I have been one of the lucky ones.”
The Italian House, which has operated at 463 S. Randall
Ave. since 1988, will move next door to an old Hardee’s
restaurant, which closed in early May. Halabi plans to
open in his new location this week, but won’t have a large
celebration.
“I want to work in the new staff gradually,” he said.
“I hope the opening spreads by word of mouth.”
Halabi, who employed about 10 people in his former spot,
plans to double his staff to run the new building’s two
kitchens. One kitchen will serve carry-out and drive-thru
orders; the other will serve dine-in customers.
He also plans to expand his menu, and will offer chicken
alfredo every day, rather than just as a special.
Breccia Gleichauf, who has worked as a waitress at the
restaurant for 12 years, is excited about the move.
“Eight people in such a dinky kitchen (at the old facility)
— I don’t know how no one has gotten hurt,” she said.
Extra kitchen space is just one added amenity the new
Italian House features. The restaurant also has a larger
dining room, hanging lights, a walk-in cooler and walk-in
freezer and new carpeting.
“This to me is Disney World, compared to what I had,”
Halabi said.
While the Italian House might be raking in the cannoli
nowadays, Halabi faced an uphill battle when he opened
his restaurant on Milton Avenue in 1987.
“When I first came to Janesville, (the city) didn’t have
a local Italian eatery that people went to,” he said. “People
weren’t saying, ‘Let’s go out and get some lasagna or pasta,’
so when I came here, I was selling Italian cuisine to no
market.”
The following year, he moved the restaurant to a building
next door to Craig High School to take advantage of the
school’s open-campus lunch policy.
“With this location, I said to myself, ‘Wow, it’s right
next to a high school, and the food we’re serving is what
high school kids were eating,’” Halabi said.
The high school crowd helped Halabi build a solid customer
base. He gained a further following by catering school
lunches and to other Janesville businesses.
Halabi also uses his restaurant to make a difference in
the community. He donates to nonprofit organizations, like
the House of Mercy, a shelter that serves homeless Janesville-area
families.
Every few weeks, Halabi stocks the shelter’s refrigerator
with extra food from the restaurant.
“The families prepare their own meals, so to have some
really excellent food they didn’t have to make is an extra
treat for them,” said House of Mercy Director Ron DelCiello.
Halabi said he always kept the community in mind as he
revamped his restaurant. Whenever he turned a profit, he
used some of the money to update the restaurant. He installed
new carpeting and a faux brick wall, which has been signed
by hundreds of Craig students through the years.
“Every year, I’d try to add something new,” he said.
Chris Wallace, a Craig graduate who signed the wall in
the 1990s, hopes the small, comfortable feel of the old
restaurant carries over to the new facility.
“It’s not a chain, and that’s the nice thing,” Wallace
said. “It’s a cozy place — intimate.”
Italian House customer Jack Hall agreed.
“I just want them to keep the integrity of it,” he said.
“It’s a very homey place; it’s not loud or obnoxious.”
Halabi brought some elements of the old location to the
new facility, including the autograph wall.
Mainly, though, he wants his restaurant to remain a staple
in the community.
“I want Janesville to have something they can say is their
own, where people (getting) off the highway don’t have
to know about us,” Halabi said. “I want this to be a permanent
fixture in our community.”
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