The Coil family of East Liverpool, Josh, his wife Megan and their two young sons Oliver and Sawyer with the sign for the family’s newest business, Italo’s in Lisbon, which they anticipate reopening soon. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

LISBON – When Josh Coil first stepped into the Italo’s Italian restaurant in Glenmoor as a high school student to begin his first job, it didn’t cross his mind that he would go from a young employee to becoming the restaurant’s owner. Now he owns two Italo’s.

According to Josh, the owner, Ron Friess, was like a grandfather to him when he started working there. Josh remained on staff for years and stayed in touch with Friess until he passed away in 2021. That’s when the opportunity to buy the business from Friess’ son, Randy, arose. Josh decided he couldn’t pass up the chance and purchased the business, which he runs with his wife Megan, in July of 2021.

Josh said all the employees were treated like family when he worked for Friess and that was something he wanted to carry over as he took ownership of the business. He wanted customers and employees to feel like they were part of a family.

“It was the family atmosphere that I loved, I grew up in it and I wanted to continue it,” Josh said.

Josh said the Glenmoor location is doing well. Business is good because he and his wife invest in the community and the community invests in them.

When the Coils saw the opportunity to invest in the Italo’s in Lisbon, which closed its doors this past Memorial Day weekend, and bring it back to the community, they took it. Just like in Glenmoor, they saw it as an opportunity to give back to the community, only this time in Lisbon. It seemed like the right thing to do and the right time to do it.

The Coils purchased the space in July and spoke with the Italo family to make sure they could run it as an Italo’s and received permission to do so. They were hoping to reopen shorty after they bought it, but realized a lot of work was needed for upgrades and repairs.

To date, they have put in new ceiling tiles and carpet, repainted and repaired the walls. They are getting ready to tackle redoing all the booths and have already put new equipment in the kitchen and repaired some existing equipment. They are currently in the process of renovating the restrooms.

“The improvement is amazing and to watch how the building has transformed,” Josh said. “It’s a lot nicer and I think people are going to love it.”

There will also be some small changes to the Lisbon menu in the beginning with the selection being close to what the Glenmoor location offers while they work at building the Lisbon location menu back to the way it was. They will also be taking suggestions from customers as to what they want to see on the menu.

The hours might be a little different too when they open the doors which should be in the next two to three weeks. The Coils are looking at the restaurant being open from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at first with the possibility of extending the hours. The business will be open seven days a week.

The Coils plan to invite the community to use the dining room for meeting space or birthday parties free of charge for the space if event food is ordered from the business. The location will use Door Dash for delivery and eventually offer delivery to businesses

The Coils, through the Glenmoor location, have contributed to many local youth activities, sports clubs, non-profits, churches and the schools, providing drinks and/or refreshments or giving back in other ways. They intend to invest in the Lisbon community just as much eventually. Josh estimates that over the last four years they have donated an estimated $40,000 into the community through the Glenmoor Italo’s. He feels they need to get their feet wet a little bit and get established to begin doing the same from the Lisbon location, but that is the plan.

“We just like to be involved in everything that is going on in the communities and help build them up,” Josh said.

The couple are active in the community already. In addition to giving back through the businesses, Josh is a member of the East Liverpool Fire Department and a board member for the East Liverpool Youth Academy Board and Megan is the director for the Museum of Ceramics in East Liverpool.

Josh said that Megan supports him “in every way she can” and Megan said she is really proud of Josh for all the hard work he has put in to get the Lisbon restaurant up and running. Josh said he has spent long hours away from his family, which include the couple’s young sons, Oliver and Sawyer, working to get the new location ready.

The Coils plan to become a member of the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce and work with the chamber to do an official ribbon cutting for the opening, in addition to a soft opening planned for friends and families.

The Lisbon Italo’s is currently hiring for several positions. Anyone interested in applying for a position should message the Coils on the Glenmoor Italo’s Facebook page.

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com