After 25 years serving loyal customers from its home on West Prospect Road, Fort Collins’ Panino’s Italian Restaurant will close its doors. But it’s not the end of the business, just a new chapter. The Coloradoan reports it will relocate to 1002 S College Ave. and rebrand as Focolare by Panino’s.
The restaurant is being forced to move as a result of plans for the site where it is now located to be redeveloped for Colorado State University housing. According to Biz West, the current commercial units and an apartment complex will be demolished to make way for a 5-story property for over 700 students.
Its new digs will be less than a mile away, in a building that formerly was The Post Chicken & Beer and IHOP. The space is nearly double the size of the existing restaurant and will feature seating for up to 140 guests, as well as an outdoor patio and multiple fireplaces.
Owners John and Marie Beck are Colorado State University graduates and longtime Fort Collins residents. Marie’s grandparents, Everetta Lou and Tony Frasca, started the family business, which has grown to have locations in Colorado Springs and Minnesota as well, in 1974.
