Restaurant owner Mike Greco spreads mortar before laying down more tiles in his new location for Bootsy s 2 along Putney Road in Brattleboro. (Josh Stilts/Reformer)
Wednesday August 15, 2012

BRATTLEBORO -- Mike Greco has a simple goal, to answer the age-old question: "What's for dinner?"

Next month, Greco and his soon-to-be bride, Megan Coburn, will open the second location of Bootsy's Grille, called Bootsy's 2, in a building that has sat vacant for several years.

Located in the parking lot of the Hannaford Supermarket along Putney Road, the building, a former bank location and real estate office, was the perfect location, Greco said.

The floor plan for the new restaurant features booth seating for 26 people and the kitchen, snugged up along the building's sliding window, which Greco plans to use to offer the only drive-through pizza in Windham County.

"There's a lot of traffic and the drive-through window makes it perfect for people to get their food and go," Greco said. "If people are going shopping for groceries, for example, they can place their order for dinner here first, then go get whatever else they need from the store and their food's ready to go. No need to worry about what's for dinner."

For the past few weeks he's exchanged his culinary tools for carpentry and general contractor tools.

Listening to his favorite music, Greco spent Monday laying tile for the new location.

Despite many people's fears of the economy, especially business owners, Greco said he's aware of the situation and he's quietly confident that everything will work out.

"It's tough, a little scary, but

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with the pizza and sandwiches we offer, our recipes, I think we'll be all right," he said as he used his trowel to slop out more mortar to set the floor tiles.

In the past few months, Greco estimated the cost of renovating the building, buying kitchen equipment such as their pizza oven, and supplies is more than $80,000. However, the construction costs aren't going to affect the price of his dishes.

"If you put a fair price on the food you serve, you'll get people coming back," he said. "That's all we want, happy returning customers."

One of the specialties Greco just started to offer at his Townshend location is what he calls "stuffed pizza" and he's hopeful it'll take off in Brattleboro as well.

Greco said what makes it different from traditional pies is that he adds a second crust over the toppings the customer has chosen for their pizza, similar to a calzone.

Then, about five minutes before it's done cooking, Greco takes it out of the oven and covers the second crust with a layer of cheese and puts it back into the oven, which he says makes it "more enjoyable."

Greco said he's hoping to open "Bootsy's 2" by Sept. 1.

Josh Stilts can be reached at jstilts@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311 ext. 273.