Angelo's Italian Restaurant to replace Bravo! Nader in Huntington

Less than a month after Bravo Nader closed in Huntington, the little free-standing building on Union Place was festooned with a banner heralding: “Coming soon: Angelo’s Italian Restaurant.”

Angelo, regular customers knew, was none other than Angelo Guzman, who had been the dining room’s maitre d’ for 20 years. And in the kitchen would be Oscar Canales, who had overseen the kitchen for almost as long. Guzman, his wife Michele Antorino Guzman, and Canales are partners in this new venture which is slated to open in August.

Nader Gebrin had announced the closure of his 24-year-old restaurant in an emotional Facebook Live video on May 15. Michele saw the video and shared the news with her husband, who told the rest of the staff. “The guys got together and said ‘what can we do?’ It’s not a good time to get a restaurant job,” she noted.

Working with the property’s landlord, they came up with a plan to renovate the building — “we gutted it down to the studs,” Michele said — and to bring virtually all of the staff back to work.

Angelo’s menu will be similar to Bravo Nader’s, although Angelo expects the daily dinner specials to be less expensive, and a lunchtime menu will be much cheaper and more casual. For the first time, there will be hard liquor as well as beer and wine. There is also the possibility of expanding the restaurant’s footprint in the future to accommodate a separate bar.

For outdoor dining, Angelo estimates that between the patio and the sidewalk, he will have room for up to eight tables.

Angelo’s Italian Restaurant, 9 Union Place, Huntington, angelosofhuntington.com