TimesLeader.com

July 4
New set of dishes: 2 eateries to open

Fire and Ice in Trucksville and The Mines in Wilkes-Barre on the way.

BILL O ’ BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com

Fire and Ice and The Mines – one in Kingston Township and the other in Wilkes-Barre – are the names of two new restaurants opening soon in the area.

Fire & Ice Restaurant, off Route 309 in Trucksville, is scheduled to open in two weeks. It was Tommy’s Roadhouse and before that Yester-Days.

FRED ADAMS/THE TIMES LEADER

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Joe Fasula, co-owner of Gerrity’s Supermarkets, will reopen the former Tommy’s Roadhouse on Memorial Highway in Trucksville within the next two weeks. Before it became Tommy’s Roadhouse in 2000, the restaurant had been called Yester-Days.

Wilkes-Barre entrepreneur Thom Greco said he will open a new venture – The Mines – on North Main Street by mid-August.

Fasula said the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board completed its inspection of the building off Route 309 on Thursday. He said he expects his liquor license to be issued soon.

Fasula, 32, said the format at Fire and Ice will be casual fun dining, offering a variety of cuisines. His partner, Gary Edwards, is a Culinary Institute-trained chef who will prepare steaks and chops, seafood and international dishes, such as Italian specialties. Edwards had worked as chef at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton.

“It’s a natural fit,” Fasula said. “This has been a dream of mine for a long time. My wife and Gary’s wife will be involved as well; it’s a family business. We’re excited about it.”

Greco said the PLCB approved transfer of his liquor license – last used at the former Martini Bar and Restaurant.

Greco said The Mines – located at 101-105 N. Main St. -- will be open Monday through Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The menu will feature “ethnic-themed food” and will be family oriented.

A museum dedicated to the mining industry will be part of the restaurant.

“We decided to go in a totally different direction than originally planned,” Greco said. “We will feature pizza with ethnic themes, like Polish, Irish and Slovak. We’ll have pierogies, boneless wings and salads.”

Greco said he plans to turn the restaurant into a nightclub after 10 p.m., with dancing.

“The liquor license has been transferred and all the permits have been secured,” Greco said. “We’re ready to go.”