Pizza Place Headed for Downtown

It seems the dining scene in downtown Oswego may be getting a boost.

The is set to consider at its Tuesday meeting an application for money from a village revolving loan fund for Firehouse Pizza and Pub proposed for 65 W. Washington St. Meanwhile, owners of an undisclosed Mexican restaurant also have been in talks with the village for a possible location at the old Village Hall building at 113 Main St., which like the Washington Street address, is still owned by the village.

“We’re trying to make downtown Oswego a destination point,” said interim village manager Dwight Baird. “The village trustees are taking that seriously and staff are doing everything we can to back them up on that.”

The owners of Firehouse Pizza and Pub — Billy Fecarotta Lumino, and his cousin Dominic Fecarotta — are no strangers to the Oswego business scene. They own and four Cricket Wireless stores, including the Oswego location.

“It’s been a dream of ours to open a pizza place,” Lumino said. “The pizza business has been in our family for years.”

Baird said the final approval for the business could come as soon as Tuesday. Lumino said they hope to get to work on the nearly $350,000 in improvements to the building as early as next week with an opening planned around the holidays.

Those improvements include two wood-burning fireplaces, an outdoor patio and giving the building the look and feel of a firehouse.

“We really want to have a family atmosphere,” said Lumino, a retired Downers Grove firefighter.

The new eatery will employ 15 to 20 people and will serve New York-style thin-crust pizza, either by the pie or the slice. Lumino said he hopes to keep the average tab at $12 to $15.

Being the owner of other successful businesses, Lumino is not worried about opening another one in tough economic times.

“People still have to eat,” he said. “If you’re going into business worried about the economic times, you probably shouldn’t be going into business.”

Baird said the village will lease the building to the cousins with a planned future date to sell them the property.

“This will be good for all the taxing bodies to get this building back on the tax rolls,” he said. “Hey, it’s only one building, but it’s better than getting nothing.”

Talks on the Mexican restaurant are progressing, but Baird said final approval could be a bit further down the road.

The Oswego Village Board will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Village Hall.