Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen opened Thursday, but had its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.
Officials say the response to the eatery has been overwhelmingly positive in that short amount of time.
Steve Hunter, senior vice president of operations for Quality Dining, welcomed everyone to the 10 a.m. grand opening Monday of the Warsaw Papa Vino’s. Quality Dining owns and operates Papa Vino’s, Burger King and a number of other restaurants.
“I’ve talked to many of you over the past several days as we’ve had our what some may call a soft opening. And the excitement that I’ve seen in this community, the welcoming spirit in the community has really been heartwarming to myself and our team members, so I thank the community and the county for that,” Hunter said.
Dan Fitzpatrick, chairman and CEO of Quality Dining, began his comments by thanking the city of Warsaw.
“Mayor Joe (Thallemer), we appreciate everything that’s happened here. We build restaurants and upgrade them in many, many communities across the country, really, and this has been unique. Your team is like a model - a model that other communities should embrace,” Fitzpatrick stated. “They were, not just pro-business, they were pro-help. They treated us like a client and that means a lot to us.”
He said the building was beautiful and the city’s team was to be commended for all their help.
Fitzpatrick thanked the construction team, saying the building was remarkable and was a huge project.
“Now, Mayor, I don’t know if this is attributable to you or not, but we worked with a lot of contractors that are right around here in this community and they were true craftsmen and they just did an extraordinary job and we extend our thanks to them. But, again, just a great reflection of this community and the great work that they did. We’re proud of what they’ve done,” he said.
Next, he thanked the Papa Vino’s team.
“This restaurant is put together and it operates with a great team. Steve Hunter, who opened it up here this morning, he’s a very passionate restauranteur. He grew up in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York and he’s become a passionate professional leader of this restaurant. This is his baby now, he’s got it and he’s got a great team with him,” Fitzpatrick said.
Jeremy Crabtree is the restaurant’s general manager.
“These guys just love what they do and our guests are going to feel it,” Fitzpatrick said.
He called out the team members, including Executive Chef Harry Anderson, who was in attendance for the ceremony.
“This team is really unique,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve had a number of guests, and Steve and I were just talking about this yesterday, people said, ‘Where did you get these folks? Did you import them from some other place?’ No, we got them right here, and the compliments that our guests have given us have been extraordinary. We operate with a really simple mantra, our team knows this, it’s love the guests, help each other. To love the guests, you have to be selfless, and these folks have been every bit of that - making sure that our guests get cared for, and at the same time to work together.”
He thanked Kelli Kuczmanski, Quality Dining director of marketing, and her team, and then recognized two other people at Monday’s ceremony - Lake City Bank CEO David Findlay and John Firth, Quality Dining director and one-time president.
Fitzpatrick made two check presentations Monday.
“During our Family & Friends, we gave the guests the opportunity, if they wanted to, to buy an adult beverage, as we would say, and we’re taking the proceeds of all of that and we’re donating them,” he explained.

    Dan Fitzpatrick (R), chairman and CEO of Quality Dining, and Steve Hunter (L), senior vice president of operations for Quality Dining, present a check for $627.32 to The Beaman Home during the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen, 2640 Escalade Way, Warsaw. Representing The Beaman Home were (L to R) April Slone, Barb Ridley and Renea Salyer. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.
  

The first was for $627.32 to The Beaman Home and the second was for $536.51 to the Warsaw Community High School Junior ROTC. The JROTC presented the colors and raised the flag at Papa Vino’s, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Warsaw restaurant is Quality Dining’s third Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen, with the other two in St. Joe and Mishawaka.
“Italian food is great. We wanted to put our own spin on it. Our executive chef, Harry Anderson, and our team came up with just a way of being different about what we’re doing with Italian,” he said.
There’s probably 25 Italian restaurants in the South Bend-Mishawaka and extended area, he said, but there was no Italian restaurant in the Warsaw area, though Salvatori’s recently opened its doors.
“So there’s two of us, which is fine. We’re both going to be successful. People love Italian food, and we think we do it pretty uniquely here. And if this past weekend is any indication, people love it already,” Fitzpatrick said.
The restaurant is a large property, with three special private dining venues. One can be doubled or divided into two. There’s the wine room, and also an area for catering and to-go.
“That is a huge part of our business,” said Fitzpatrick about the catering and to-go. “A huge part of our business.”
Quality Dining and Papa Vino’s also want to be a part of the community that gives back, he said.
“So we’re rewarded by people’s patronage as guests, and it’s just been an effort since we started our organization over 40 years ago that we’re going to be a participating, contributing corporate citizen in our communities,” Fitzpatrick stated.
Asked what his favorite dish at Papa Vino’s is, he said, “It’s hard, because I’ve seen this menu develop over time, but I just think all of our pastas are really good. There’s like a little spin on them. Our rigatoni al forno is very popular. Our big pastas are really great. Lasagna is hard to beat. But at the end of the day, I’m a pretty simple guy and a nice bowl of pasta with meatballs, you can’t get any better than that.”
The Warsaw Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen is at 2640 Escalade Way. The phone number is 574-319-VINO (8466) and the website is www.PapaVinosItalianKitchen.com.

    Dan Fitzpatrick (L), chairman and CEO of Quality Dining, presents a check for $536.51 to the Warsaw Community High School Junior ROTC on Monday during the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Papa Vino’s Italian Kitchen, 2640 Escalade Way, Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.