By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Sit-down restaurants have come and gone in Great Bend over the years. One will get a chance at a second life. California-native Joe Smeragliuolo and Lacey Bonine are the new owners and operators of Tellers 1872, located at 1919 Lakin Ave. in downtown Great Bend. Smeragliuolo, the executive chef at the new Tellers, has more than 10 years of experience in the restaurant industry. He still gets emotional talking about his early years in the kitchen.
"I grew up cooking with my mom," he said. "She and I would spend hours upon hours in the kitchen together. I have five brothers and sisters. For a family of eight, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. From that came my love of food. The appetizers and the pasta are really inspired by my Italian heritage. I really wanted to showcase what great Italian food can be, while also being true to what Tellers is. We are an American chophouse. I wanted to offer quality beef, quality pork, and quality chicken that surpasses what we can pick up in a grocery store."
Tonight is the restaurant's grand opening. Tellers will operate from 5-9 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, with a menu that includes Italian-inspired appetizers, salads, and pasta dishes. The butcher block features a variety of beef, chicken, and pork cuts served with mashed potatoes or garlic fries and seasonal vegetables or green beans. Close the meal with a creme brulee or spike cake dessert. The restaurant currently has a variety of soft drinks, tea, and coffee, and a liquor license is in the works.
"From the recipe standpoint, we have a commitment to scratch cooking," Smeragliuolo said. "Our rolls are made in-house, the pasta is made fresh, the steaks and pork are hand-cut. Everything we have is freshly made almost every day. It takes a lot of time and effort to do that, but the quality, you taste it."
Smeragliuolo grew up in California but moved to Great Bend several years ago to pursue another job opportunity. He began work in the industry as a dishwasher in his university's cafeteria but soon worked his way up to sous chef. He was later executive chef for a private business, then general manager for a successful Panda Express store.
"I have a lot of the craft background while also having the corporate background, which, I think, equips me well for running my own restaurant," he said.
Bonine, front of house manager at Tellers, is a Great Bend native. She befriended Smeragliuolo at a previous job, then the opportunity to open their restaurant was too good to pass up.
"We both enjoy food and have a passion for this community," she said. "When this opportunity came up, it was too good to say, 'No, thank you.' Great Bend has needed a great place to come and gather around the table with one another. That's what we're looking to do."
The all-new Tellers 1872 will be a small operation, and Smeragliuolo said the business is fully staffed. The new business owners are proud to be part of a vibrant corner in downtown Great Bend that will soon include livable space via the Lofts at Zarah.
"To see this building come to life, fully, with the apartments upstairs, Perks that is really taking off, Miss Pretty Pickles and Heart of Kansas, then an evening dinner spot - as a Great Bend native, it is so exciting to think about," Bonine said. "You can have a very busy little downtown area from lunch to dinnertime. It is so exciting to me just to see life in downtown Great Bend."
Bonine said service is by reservation at this time. Reservations can be made at the Tellers 1872 Facebook page.
"A lot of that is to ensure people get a table when they would like to have a table, and we're mitigating those potentially long wait times," she said. "As Joe mentioned, this is a scratch kitchen. This isn't fast food, but it's well worth the wait to have a freshly-cooked meal."
The Tellers menu is also available via the restaurant's Facebook page. Smeragliuolo said some items will be added every few months to keep the menu fresh, and seasonal items will also come and go.