A new Italian restaurant called Cirò opened Wednesday (Oct. 23) at 110 W. Union St. in Athens, in the building that formerly housed the Corner on Union restaurant and W.G. Grinders before that. The owners of Cirò – which is named after a coastal city in southern Italy – said earlier this month that the new establishment hopes to bring more Italian and Italian-American flavors to Athens.

Co-owner and chef Francis McFadden (formerly an Ohio University professor of food and nutrition studies) is joined by co-owner Saundra Buck, who is a U.S. Army veteran and current U.S. Army Reserve member from this area. The former Corner on Union restaurant closed in June, the restaurant’s owners confirmed in a Facebook post this week.