Friends and business associates Tony Vendramin and Jesse Alvarez are teaming up to bring Italian beef sandwich chain Buona, and Ice Cream chain The Original Rainbow Cone to the surrounding Nashville area.
In a press release, the two restaurant brands announced that the new Buona/Rainbow Cone locations will open in Nolensville, Franklin, Spring Hill and Smyrna communities in 2023.
“Tony and I have been friends and business associates for 20 years,” Alvarez told What Now. “We’re trying to bring this food product so that more of Nashville can see it, and taste it.”
Buona and The Original Rainbow are household names in Chicago.
Buona was founded in 1981 by Joe and Peggy Buonavolanto. Its Italian beef sandwich includes all natural beef without preservatives. Currently, there are 26 locations in the Chicago area and one Indiana location.
Meanwhile, The Original Rainbow Cone was founded in 1926 by “Grandpa Joe” Sapp. The signature ice cream has five flavors in one single cone. The brand trademarked two ice cream flavors: its pistachio ice cream, and a cherry and walnut flavored ice cream called Palmer House.
“Most of my friends that grew up in Chicago are extremely familar [with the ice cream flavors],” Vendramin said. “That was like a treat for them on the weekends. Their parents would take them out for Rainbow Cone.”
Alvarez and Vendramin hope to open both concepts under one roof at all locations.
“Families will definitely enjoy that,” Alvarez said. “Who doesn’t love a really good sandwich and ice cream?”
While the two friends grew up in Chicago, Alvarez has since moved to the Nashville suburbs.
“We’re just trying to bring a new and exciting food there,” he said. “We think people will enjoy it. It’s something that’s totally different. It’s something that’s not seen in the south too much.”
