G.N.A. Pizzeria

Local favorite GNA opens a fine-dining Italian restaurant a few blocks east of its old location in West Reading.

Anyone who grew up in West Reading during the past 25 years could tell you stories about hanging out at GNA, the local pizza and sandwich shop. But just as those teenagers who hung out there eventually grew up, GNA has gone through a maturing of its own.

On Jan. 15, Lina Grande, 46, and her husband, Albino, 51, moved their small pizzeria a few blocks east on Penn Avenue and turned it into GNA Ristorante and Pizzeria, a large fine-dining Italian restaurant, specializing in the authentic cuisine of Southern Italy. Tina Grande

Lina estimated that $1 million in renovations were done to convert the former store into the restaurant and pizzeria. The renovations were done between April and December.

Lina said she and her husband had always had it in the back of their minds to open a full-service restaurant, but were waiting for their children - Ben, 26; Tina, 24; and Massimo, 21;-to graduate from college.

"We were waiting to see if the kids wanted to participate in this business," Grande said. "The timing was just right for this. Our oldest son is a Realtor who found us this building, our youngest son is graduating from college this spring. All three of our kids decided they want to get involved in the business. And the beauty of all of this is that my daughter recently got married to a chef."

Raffaele Cirandine, the Grandes' son-in-law and head chef, hails from Cropani in the Calabria region of Southern Italy.

"My family lived in a seaside town where seafood was plentiful and I learned to cook in my family's kitchen," Cirandine said. Raffaele Cirandine

While the Grande family knew fine Italian dining would be popular, they worried a little about losing their former identity and their customers.

So while the dining room is elegantly decorated to recreate a Southern Italian villa, the side of the building is dedicated to the sandwich and pizza business.

The original booths and wall decorations were taken from the old GNA at 701 Penn Ave. and placed in the pizzeria side. There is a separate entrance for takeout.

This is great because each member of the family takes charge of a different aspect of the restaurant," Lina said. "I take care of the front dining room, my daughter takes charge of the pizzeria dining area, my sons overlook the pizza takeout and the bar and my husband is general manager."

Lina said when she used to drive down Penn Avenue, she would admire the building at 421 Penn Ave., which had been a store and showroom for patio furniture.

"When I would drive by and see all of the beautiful patio furniture, I used to think that this would be a beautiful site for an Italian restaurant," Lina said. "When our son informed me the building was on the market, I knew this would be our future home."

But patio furniture in the 400 block of Penn Avenue isn't going to go away. The family plans to create outdoor dining this spring with 10 to 15 tables on the front patio surrounded by an iron gate.

Albino Grande said everyone wants to know is what the letters GNA stand for: "Often at the sandwich shop we would joke that the letters stood for `going nuts all the time,' but the truth is they stand for Grande and Amoroso (Lina's maiden name)."