Ellis V restaurant

By Barry H. Hendrix / Managing Editor

The Ellis V Restaurant on Highway 80 will have new management October 1, and it will close.

The good news is that in a few weeks Ellis V will reopen with a new menu and improved service, said Norbert Perret, a partner in the venture. The establishment will be redecorated, and the kitchen will be redone.

The outside of the building will look the same, but the sign needs some painting, he said. Some colors will change inside, and the bar and the floor will also be redone.

Televisions will be included for a sports bar atmosphere.

Perret is also a partner in the popular La Gran Fiesta Restaurant, and he will be in partnership with Ramon Montesino and chef Juan Canovas.

Why take on another restaurant? Bill Mason, the current owner of Ellis V, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, Perret said.

The new menu at Ellis V will include Italian, French and Spanish dishes prepared by Canovas, a native of Spain. He has worked in a French and Brazilian/South American style restaurants in Florida and was previously living in Miami.

Customers can expect pasta with chicken and veal, Italian sandwiches, and a few Spanish dishes. There may even be a few Nicaraguan and Cuban dishes.

The lunch menu will include salads, pasta, sandwiches and a traditional meat and vegetable item for American tastes.

Canovas has only lived in Demopolis a few weeks, but he has visited previously.

Both Perret and Canovas said the success of a local restaurant is found in a combination of price and service. Despite the food tasting good, "if the service is bad, something is wrong," Canovas said.

Demopolis is a very viable market for the restaurant business, Perret said, with the traffic on Highway 80 and with workers for the construction projects. That progress is not going to stop, he said.