Syracuse, N.Y. — When you build a new restaurant, do four decades of history come with it?
That’s the question Joey’s Italian Restaurant and its new 6,500-square-foot, $5-million space must address. Owner Bill Cleary, who bought Joey’s from founder Joey DeCuffa in 2023, opened the new restaurant in September. A month later, the old building — a squat, split-level structure that housed both the casual lunch spot Pronto Joey’s and the more formal Joey’s downstairs, which, for what it lacked in windows, easily made up for in charm — was torn down and paved over to create additional parking for the new restaurant.
Is newer and bigger indeed better, or did they pave paradise and put up a parking lot?…