Atlantic Fish and Fabulous Foods expansion opened Wednesday in PNC Bank Building

SCRANTON – When Montdale resident Amanda Liples purchased Atlantic Fish and Fabulous Foods, 507 S. State St., Clarks Summit, in March 2008, she already had hopes of expanding the business established by Mary Ann Nichols and Nancy Neville.

After more than a year of work, that expansion opened in the first floor of the PNC Bank Building at 201 Penn Ave. on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

“A lot of our customers from Clarks Summit work in the downtown (Scranton) area, and they encouraged us to add a location in the city,” Liples, 26, said of the new site, called Fabulous Foods II Caf�.

The Scranton location was remodeled from former office space and was designed by her father, Vincent. Atlantic Fish and Fabulous Foods is co-owned by Amanda Liples, her sister Jessica Nepa, and her parents Vincent and Ruth Liples.

Amanda Liples, a graduate of Lakeland High School and the Culinary Institute of America, prepares fresh dishes for both locations each morning beginning at about 6 a.m. “The menu for lunch is the same uptown and downtown,” she said, adding that the major difference is the various preparations of fish offered in the Clarks Summit location.

Vinny Liples, 29, Amanda’s brother, is the manager of the Penn Avenue location. After a soft opening on Tuesday, Aug. 24, the Montdale resident has already noticed some trends and favorite dishes among customers in the city.

“We sell a lot of the spinach and hummus salads, and people like them on wraps as well. With most of the items in our deli showcase, as soon as we get it in, it’s gone,” he said.

Customers have also enjoyed daily sandwich wrap specials, chicken salad and the very popular Greek pasta salad, which includes sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese and more.

“There are a couple of requests for different kinds of salads that my sister makes for customers in Clarks Summit, like her calamari salad,” Vinny Liples said.

Currently open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., the caf� also offers breakfast sandwiches, bagels and muffins. They have partnered with Electric City Roasting Company to offer fresh coffee.

That partnership is unique to the Scranton expansion and adds to the roasting company’s ties to businesses like Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank, Cooper’s Seafood House, Mansour’s Market and the coffeehouse at Outrageous.

“When we partner with a caf�, we want to be sure they have an excellent coffee service. I think (Fabulous Foods II Caf�) has a great location with potential for a great lunchtime business as well as great breakfast crowd,” Electric City Roasting Company Manager Dominick Mecca said.