After almost two years of sitting vacant on South College Avenue, Fort Collins' shuttered Applebee's building has transformed into a real boy, I mean, Italian restaurant.  Pinocchios Incredible Italian — a Northern Colorado chain that started in Longmont in 2003 — quietly opened its doors at 4306 S. College Ave. on Jan. 9, according to owner Annie Vick. 

The revamped Italian restaurant is Vick's first in Fort Collins, joining five other locations across the Front Range, including in Niwot, Frederick, Longmont and Loveland. "We've had so many people say, 'You need to come to Fort Collins,' " Vick said. "After we opened in Loveland, it's 20 minutes (from that Fort Collins) so it just seemed like a natural progression."