A restaurant concept new to Chattanooga, and to Tennessee, is opening downtown on Thursday as part of the makeover of an old warehouse.
Goodfellas Pizzeria, and its accompanying Wiseguy Lounge, will open for limited operations Thursday at King Street Station on King Street near the Moxy Hotel.
Goodfellas co-owner Alex Coats said he is “pumped up” Tennessee is reopening for business in the wake of the coronavirus.
But plans are for the eatery to open on a limited basis, Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight, until full operations get underway, he said. Tables will be spaced 6 feet apart, and the restaurant will comply with COVID-19 guidelines, said Coats.
Lexington, Kentucky-based Goodfellas sells New York-style pizza with hand-tossed, house-made dough, and Coats cited its 22-inch offering. Also, its Wiseguy Lounge is “a Prohibition-style speakeasy” with a large selection of whiskeys and beers, he said.
“We focus on high energy,” Coats said.
The restaurant has about 10,000 square feet of space and 250 seats within King Street Station, he said.
“It’s a big, entertainment- type space,” Coats said.
He called the remade former cold storage building at 1208 King St. “an over-the-top historic renovation.”
Last year, Chattanooga developers Jimmy White and Hiran Desai gave the dilapidated 109-year-old former warehouse in the Southside a face lift as part of the $35 million development.
White said he courted Goodfellas Pizzeria “pretty hard to come to Chattanooga.”
“We’re excited about them opening up now, bringing new jobs, a new restaurant concept and opening up despite everything going on,” he said.
White also noted that the top floor of the six-level building, which is leased up, is ready to house another tenant.
Ventures, the corporate events division for USA Today Network, expects to move in within about a month, said Lyndsi Lane with the company.
She expects about 20 people to work in the space that will serve as the Ventures headquarters for the business that also has offices in Boston, Chicago and New York area.
A little more than a year ago, the Moxy Hotel, a $19 million, 108-room project at Market and King streets, opened at the corner of King and Market streets.
“Although the site had been blighted and empty for many years, Jimmy and I saw potential and understood that it would be a key component in the revitalization of the Southside area,” said Desai, chief executive officer of 3H Group. “The King Street Station expansion not only complements our existing entertainment and hospitality offerings but also generates even more tax dollars and jobs for this city.”
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.