The Willow Glen Resident

Mio Vicino claims strip mall location

The popular Italian restaurant plans to open after new year

By Cecily Barnes

The locally owned Italian restaurant Mio Vicino is coming to Willow Glen. The restaurant chain already boasts successful locations in Santa Clara and Campbell, and co-owners Jerry Boone and Diane Rose expect the same success in Willow Glen. The casual trattoria should be open for business in the old Electrical Appliance building by mid-February.

"We are very excited about this new venture," co-owner Jerry Boone said. "Everyone likes to walk around and frequent the businesses in Willow Glen, and the demographics are unbeatable. It's kind of like a little Los Gatos, and it's not inundated with too may restaurants."

Boone spotted his newest location one evening while picking up dinner at Aqui Mex-Grille.

"I was driving to Aqui to get dinner, and I saw the 'For Lease' sign at the old Electrical Appliance building," Boone said. "I talked to [general manager] Teri [Francis] at Aqui's, and she said, 'You have got to come in.' I called the number, and everything just seemed to fall into place."

Mio Vicino serves traditional Italian cuisine with an emphasis on pasta and on homemade food. Beer or wine can be ordered with meals, and the atmosphere ranges from very casual to semiformal.

"You can wear a suit in here or you can wear shorts," Boone said, "You can also go on a date here and not feel like it's going to set you back too bad."

Mio Vicino also serves pizza, seafood, salads, wine and beer and their famous ciabatta French bread delivered with a bowl of olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and spices. Diane Rose, the former chef of Los Gatos Bar and Grill, is creating the menu.

Mio Vicino signed a lease with property owner Alex Byer in October, filling the fifth out of eight spots available in the new Lincoln Avenue retail center. Byer says he is negotiating a lease with a home furnishings store for the sixth spot, but nothing is definite yet.

"If we sign this lease as planned, we'll have six out of eight spots leased," Byer said. "Within the next couple of months, the last two spots should be filled."

Noah's Bagels, Peet's Coffee and Tea, Jamba Juice and Petroglyph are all slated to open around Dec. 15.

Restaurant proprietors and business owners say the new restaurant is just one more positive addition to Willow Glen's expanding downtown district. "I say the more the merrier. It's nice to have a Willow Glen that's percolating with new things happening," said Aqui's Francis. "There's a real change that's happening on the Avenue, and I think it will be well received."

Willow Street Pizza manager Tim Littlefield says the new restaurant is welcome competition.

"I do believe we'll probably be in some competition with them, but with the growth that's going on in Willow Glen, it can only mean more people in the area," Littlefield said. "I like Mio Vicino, I think their food is very good, but we offer a little more. We have the wood-fired pizza and they're more of a traditional cuisine."

Mio Vicino opened its first restaurant in 1992 in Santa Clara. The second location followed last year in Campbell, and Willow Glen will be the third. Within the next few years, Boone hopes to open two more locations around Santa Clara Valley.

"Downtown Willow Glen needs a little invigorating, and this center will be one step toward helping that," said property owner Alex Byer.

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