{"id":188521,"date":"2026-05-10T08:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T08:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/188521\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T08:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T08:45:27","slug":"long-time-erie-restaurant-avantis-sold-after-nearly-a-year-on-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/188521\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-time Erie restaurant Avanti&#8217;s sold after nearly a year on market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a data-ylk=\"slk:Avanti&#039;s;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Avantis1662\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Avanti&#8217;s<\/a>, a breakfast-and-lunch fixture in Erie since 1975, has a new owner.<\/p>\n<p>And the new owner, who took possession of the property on May 6, plans to continue the restaurant&#8217;s traditions, maintain the menu and retain its staff.<\/p>\n<p>That means menu staples such as pierogies, eggs benedict and corned beef hash aren&#8217;t going anywhere, said Jasmine Almeida, a Canadian native who paid $232,000 for the building and the business at 1662 W. Eighth St.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Avanti's, located at 1662 W. Eighth St., opened in 1975.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_goerie_com_255\/676574eae45104994c5cf721500c1ab3.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Avanti&#8217;s, located at 1662 W. Eighth St., opened in 1975.<\/p>\n<p>That continuity didn&#8217;t seem like a sure thing when previous owner Mark McCain put the business up for sale last summer.<\/p>\n<p>It was the building that was for sale, although continuing to run Avanti&#8217;s was an option, said Jack Munch, a vice president of <a data-ylk=\"slk:Baldwin Brothers Inc.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baldwinbros.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Baldwin Brothers Inc.<\/a>, which listed the property.<\/p>\n<p>It was an option that made sense to Almeida, who in April launched <a data-ylk=\"slk:Erie\u00a0Seniors\u00a0Magazine;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"mailto:https:\/\/erieseniors.com\/\">Erie\u00a0Seniors\u00a0Magazine<\/a>,\u00a0a full-gloss print magazine aimed at the region&#8217;s senior community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I felt like there was some synergy there,&#8221; said Almeida, a marketing professional and mother of three who serves as an Erie Ambassador with the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, the people who read the magazine might also be the people who come in for breakfast, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping the restaurant just made sense.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It felt like a different kind of community service,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Almeida, who has a background in business and marketing, is quick to acknowledge she&#8217;s not a chef.<\/p>\n<p>She explains in an online post: &#8220;I know good food. I know good vibes. I know good marketing. And I know good community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Shutting its doors: <a data-ylk=\"slk:Casa Cafe closes after lease discussions fall apart;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/casa-cafe-closes-lease-discussions-164304072.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Casa Cafe closes after lease discussions fall apart<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Almeida, who paid $2,000 more than the asking price for the property, took ownership of all the restaurant&#8217;s fixtures and equipment as part of the deal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a plus for the seller that she&#8217;s going to continue to run it,&#8221; Munch said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a plus for the employees and the people who like to visit Avanti&#8217;s. It was really what the seller was hoping for.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Former owner Mark McCain holds a mortgage on the property for $182,000.<\/p>\n<p>Almeida doesn&#8217;t plan to tinker much with the menu that&#8217;s heavy on breakfast, sandwiches and salads. But she does have one change in mind. After years of serving only breakfast and lunch, she&#8217;s planning at some point to add dinner service on Fridays and Saturdays.<\/p>\n<p>Chain restaurant shuttered: <a data-ylk=\"slk:Smokey Bones shuts off the smoker, turns out the lights in Millcreek;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/smokey-bones-shuts-off-smoker-212920041.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Smokey Bones shuts off the smoker, turns out the lights in Millcreek<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Almeida, who does business as Presque Isle Property Holdings LLC, said she believes her quarterly publication and the restaurant can help market one another.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a great opportunity,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Contact Jim Martin at\u00a0<a data-ylk=\"slk:jmartin3@gannett.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/mailto:jmartin@gannett.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">jmartin3@gannett.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: <a data-ylk=\"slk:Erie restaurant Avanti&#039;s has new owner who plans to keep menu staples;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goerie.com\/story\/business\/2026\/05\/08\/avantis-restaurant-erie-pa-sold\/89993334007\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Erie restaurant Avanti&#8217;s has new owner who plans to keep menu staples<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Avanti&#8217;s, a breakfast-and-lunch fixture in Erie since 1975, has a new owner. And the new owner, who took&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[84062,84063,136,138,137,84064,84060,84061,976],"class_list":["post-188521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-avanti39s","tag-corned-beef-hash","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-jack-munch","tag-jasmine-almeida","tag-mark-mccain","tag-restaurant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188521","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=188521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}