Caldone’s, a new restaurant in a very old building at 218 S. Main St., opened at lunchtime Wednesday.
“It was awesome,’’ said Donnie Bennett, who owns the restaurant along with his wife, Karuleen. “There was a really good turnout. We had the mayor here. It was a good first day.’’
I saw Mayor Gary Shaw on Thursday as he was walking downtown and asked him what he thought of the new restaurant. He said he ordered the chicken alfredo and that it was quite good.
The restaurant features Italian, Greek and local favorites, including pizza and steaks. It will have a bar as soon as a liquor license is obtained. Prices for lunch will average from $7 to $12. Dinner prices will average from $9 to $14.
The restaurant will be a showcase for the singing talents of chef Sergio from Italy on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The owners are trying capture the flavor of a quaint Italian village in food, atmosphere and decor. You’ll smell fresh bread baking in a traditional brick oven and see pizza dough being tossed in the air.
Hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturdays, the restaurant will open at 4 p.m. and stay open for as late as people are willing to come. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.
Catering an private conference rooms are available.

The downturn in the economy has taken its toll on the Pavilions West shopping center at 1802 W. 32nd St.
So far, four storefronts in that shopping center have closed. The latest will be the Movie Gallery there. A store spokesman said no movies are being rented now as the store prepared to liquidate its stock of movies.
Special prices have been placed on the movies, including new and recent releases, to entice consumers inside for a bargain.
The shopping center has lots three restaurants — Geppetto’s, Java Dave’s and Sprouts.
The Cafe Del Rio and J.B. Elephant’s, a Thai bistro, remain open. Also open is a Subway sandwich shop.
Pavilions West is what I would call an outlier in that it is not close to a neighborhood area with a substantial population. It is certainly a great spot if you are doing business there or work in Joplin’s medical district. Let’s hope there are no other closings and some new tenants can be found. If not, it could be slow go the surviving tenants.

The new Walgreen's Drug Store at West Seventh Street and Maiden Lane is set to open on or about Saturday, Nov. 14. Crews are feverishly working to stock the shelves in time for the opening.
Of course, once those doors open the appearance of perfectly stocked shelves will be lost in a matter of minutes. Being something of a neatnik, I find that amusing.
The store will feature new design and presentation elements that existing stores do not have. The store will employ about 13 people on the sales floor.
What Walgreens has done with this project at the northwest corner of the intersection is impressive. For the longest time, the corner was mostly a vacant lot with a smattering of weeds on it. It was not attractive. That clearly has changed.
The city has assisted by taking steps to improve traffic flow at the intersection. The work included some much-needed improvements to the storm-water system there. A retaining wall and attractive fence have been added.
The change has come with a cost. The people who live in that area have lost their immediate access to a Braum’s store, but there are several other restaurants in that area from which they can choose. The Braum’s property was torn down to make way for the Walgreens.
Word has it that the other new Walgreens at East 20th Street and Range Line Road will open in late February or early March.

C&C’s Craves at the northeast corner of East Seventh Street and St. Louis Avenue will celebrate its new name with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Christina Spry, who owns the business with Christopher Broadwater, said those attending the ceremony will have an opportunity to win gift cards.
Customers who dress up in Halloween costumes and visit the specialty coffee shop on Friday and Saturday will get a 15 percent discount on their purchases.
Among the featured specialty drinks are hot chocolate, real fruit smoothies and coffee with pumpkin-spice flavoring.
Spry and Broadwater purchased the drive-through coffee shop, formerly known as Jive in Java, in April 2008.
“We offer many of the same drinks that Jive in Java did because our customers like those products. We have given new names to everything. We are also offering some new flavors,’’ she said.
The shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Need to take my hat off to the contractor and engineers who have redesigned the intersection at 32nd and Main streets. This has been quite an undertaking to say the least.
In a very methodical way, workers have since July 20 added much-needed turn lanes, erected new signal lights and installed new sidewalks in what appears to be record time with minimal interference for the thousands of motorists who use that intersection every day.
The plan is to get this work done by the time cold weather arrives in November.
The real challenge associated with this project unfolded last Monday when crews with APAC-Missouri Inc., paved all four approaches to the intersection. To do that in one day, police were positioned to route traffic through and around the intersection. They pulled off something akin to a minor miracle.
What I like most about the redesign are the additional turning lanes, but especially the new one that permits southbound traffic to turn east at 33rd Street. That little intersection has always been problematic, and a likely place for traffic congestion and rear-end accidents. That turn lane will solve that.
If the objective was to speed up the flow of traffic in that intersection in a safe manner, well, the engineer in charge has certainly achieved that goal. It’s worth the $2 million that has been spent.
I have driven through this intersection on a regular basis since obtaining my driver’s permit some 40 years ago. To be honest with you, I really did not expect to see this interchange modernized to this extent in my lifetime. Bravo to those involved.