<\/p>\n
For decades, Avanti’s has been a familiar gathering place for Erie residents looking for breakfast, lunch, and conversation.<\/p>\n
Among the regulars are William Dunbar, his college roommate Richard Wood, and a group of longtime friends who gather at the same booth each day.<\/p>\n
“This is what we call the luxury box,” Dunbar said.<\/p>\n
For the group, the restaurant’s appeal goes beyond the food.<\/p>\n
“It’s about the place, it’s about the food, it’s about the servers,” Wood said.<\/p>\n
The restaurant, located at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and West 8th Street, first opened in 1975 and has become a neighborhood institution. This spring, however, Avanti’s entered a new chapter when Jasmine Almeida purchased the business.<\/p>\n
“I kind of noticed the for-sale sign. I was driving by with my kids and was like, ‘Imagine if I bought Avanti’s,'” Almeida said.<\/p>\n
The mother of three is no stranger to business ownership. She also owns Erie Seniors Magazine, copies of which are prominently displayed throughout the restaurant.<\/p>\n
Another local connection can be found in the coffee served to customers. Avanti’s has long featured Millcreek Coffee’s House Blend, which is now available for purchase in 12-ounce bags as whole bean or ground coffee.<\/p>\n
“What they’ve been getting for years is our Millcreek House Blend, and they’re a big help to making it a staple of Erie,” said Doug Baker, head roaster at Millcreek Coffee.<\/p>\n
While ownership has changed, Almeida says longtime customers can expect familiar favorites to remain on the menu.<\/p>\n
“We’ll do breakfast and lunch. We’re hoping to add a vegan item on the menu so that will be a nice addition, and we also have fresh, local maple syrup now that people can purchase,” Almeida said.<\/p>\n
Popular breakfast staples, including egg dishes and other longtime menu favorites, will continue to be served.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Almeida says improvements are planned for the restaurant, including additional outdoor seating in the front and potentially more seating in the back.<\/p>\n
For Almeida, the goal is to build on what has made Avanti’s a community favorite for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy to take ownership of a place that’s been loved by the community and is really an epic part of the neighborhood,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For decades, Avanti’s has been a familiar gathering place for Erie residents looking for breakfast, lunch, and conversation.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[92315,136,138,137],"class_list":["post-213858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-avanti","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213858","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=213858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}