- April 26, 2024
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Simple food, but done right.
That's what restaurant owners Paulie and Meghan Bevacqua strived for when they opened Fat Paulie's Wicked Awesome Eatery in Ormond Beach. Whether their customers are ordering their award-winning clam chowder or their meatball parm, the Bevacquas aim to provide fresh food made from scratch, and since opening five months ago, they have built a loyal customer base because of it.
"Most of the time, if you come in and try something, we see your face again," Paulie Bevacqua said. "... and they usually come back with friends."
The Bevacquas owned a bar in their home state of Massachusetts, but after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down restaurants, the couple decided to sell their business and move to Florida, where they planned to open something new. They bought a home in St. Augustine thinking they would open a restaurant there, but after eight months of looking with no success, they expanded their search to the area Meghan Bevacqua said they originally wanted to move to in the first place: Ormond Beach.
"I find this town to be kind of a foodie town," she said. "There's a lot of great little restaurants here."
Fat Paulie's Wicked Awesome Eatery is located within Ormond Beach's downtown district at 366 W. Granada Blvd. In addition to its clam chowder — which won the 39th annual Cape Cod Chowder Festival in 2019 — the eatery offers salads and sandwiches such as roast beef, french dip, chicken piccata and steak and cheese.
Currently, the eatery is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but the couple hopes to expand its hours soon to offer a limited breakfast menu.
Originally, Paulie Bevacqua wanted to open a full-service restaurant, but with the labor shortages affecting the service industry, he decided to go back to their roots and open a sandwich shop. The couple used to own a local chain of sandwich shops in Massachusetts.
Running a restaurant is what they know best, said Paulie Bevacqua, who added they have opened eight establishments in total since they entered the restaurant business. For Meghan Bevacqua, it's in her blood — her father is a professional chef in Cape Cod, where she grew up. Paulie Bevacqua worked in the restaurant business since he was young, having put himself through college by waiting tables. He started working with a wholesale bread company, but didn't feel it was his calling; he wanted to be his own boss.
Paulie Bevacqua said he's never opened a restaurant and received such high reviews in a short period of time. He's also found that his shop's name has drawn in a lot of former New Englanders.
"We just say 'wicked' in Mass," Meghan Bevacqua said. "If you see a baby, you'll be like, 'Oh my God, that baby is wicked cute.'"
And the fact the community has embraced their "wicked awesome" food is rewarding, she said.
"We love making food," Meghan Bevacqua said. "We leave here, and we're like, 'What are we going to make for dinner?"
For the couple, homemade food is the key.
"I just am taken aback with how many corners nowadays are cut," Paulie Bevacqua said. "Everything — sauces come in a can, gravy comes with 'mix with water' [instructions]. ... Scratch dining is really a lost art, and that's why we pretty much do it."
