{"id":103031,"date":"2026-02-02T16:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T16:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/103031\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T16:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T16:54:07","slug":"italian-restaurants-set-for-scranton-blakely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/103031\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian restaurants set for Scranton, Blakely"},"content":{"rendered":"

A restaurateur strives to bring a taste of Italy to Northeast Pennsylvania through two new eateries.<\/p>\n

Benny Dzurlic opened Italian Pub Meatball & More, 414 Biden St. in downtown Scranton, on Wednesday, and plans to open a second location at 978 Main St., Blakely, in early March.<\/p>\n

Dzurlic hoped to also open the Blakely location in January but noted the launch has been delayed by the recent inclement weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m going to postpone it for a few more weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Dzurlic plans to use the extra time to work out any issues at the Scranton location.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for 30-something years, but there are always mistakes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gives me a chance to adjust certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A table inside the bar area of Italian Pub Meatball and More, 414 Biden St., Scranton, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

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A table set up in the dining room area of Italian Pub Meatball and More, 414 Biden St., Scranton, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"Local<\/p>\n

Local restaurateur Benny Dzurlic plans to open Italian Pub Meatball and More at 978 Main St., Blakely, in early March. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

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A table inside the bar area of Italian Pub Meatball and More, 414 Biden St., Scranton, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

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Dzurlic \u2014 who operates other restaurants in Scranton, including Catch 21 Seafood & Steak, 301 N. Washington Ave.; Sambuca Italian Grille & Bar, 234 Penn Ave.; and Mangia Bistro & Bar, 127 W. Market St. \u2014 stressed his latest venture has been in the works for some time.<\/p>\n

He renovated the inside of the former Tequila Mexican Pub, bringing in new furniture and accessories.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been in my mind for a while,\u201d Dzurlic said. \u201cI love the restaurant industry \u2014 call me crazy, but I love it. I think it was the right timing. It was on my bucket list.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurants will offer four different types of homemade meatballs \u2014 beef, pork and beef, seafood and vegetarian \u2014 served with a choice of four sauces \u2014 marinara, spicy tomato, mushroom sherry wine cr\u00e8me and vodka \u2014 and a choice of pasta \u2014 penne, rigatoni or linguine. The beef, and pork and beef, selections cost $16; the seafood selection costs $18, and the vegetarian costs $14.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just looking to give something to the people that is a little more cost effective,\u201d Dzurlic said. \u201cGood food and at a reasonable price, so they\u2019re more comfortable going out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pasta and chicken dishes, as well as fresh clams and seafood, are also on the menu.<\/p>\n

Blakely Borough Manager Chris Paone expressed satisfaction about the developments along Main Street and believes Dzurlic will have success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to see another restaurant go in there, especially with somebody experienced like Benny,\u201d Paone said. \u201cWe wish them all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Italian Pub Meatball & More adds to Blank Slate Bakehouse, which opened in December, and Garb\u2019s Bar & Grill, which opened in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to get more little restaurants and businesses opening up,\u201d Paone said. \u201cHopefully we can keep the momentum growth going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scranton City Council President Tom Schuster also welcomed another dining establishment in the Electric City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an overall rise in restaurants in the downtown,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it reflects the city\u2019s financial health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A restaurateur strives to bring a taste of Italy to Northeast Pennsylvania through two new eateries. Benny Dzurlic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2118,60,201,182,28,435,178,180,179,289,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-103031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-blakely","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-lackawanna-county","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-restaurants-food-and-drink","14":"tag-scranton","15":"tag-scranton-headlines","16":"tag-scranton-news","17":"tag-things-to-do","18":"tag-top-stories-stt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}