SACO — The Falmouth-based Ricetta’s Brick Oven Ristorante is opening a second location at the former Kerrymen Pub restaurant at 512 Main St. in Saco.

Ricetta’s founder Ron Stephan said in an email on Wednesday that he hopes to open the Italian restaurant at the Saco site in late spring or early summer.

“We believe Saco is a wonderful community and the building has high visibility, tremendous traffic counts, good parking and is located in the heart of the town,” said Stephan.

The Kerrymen Pub was a local institution in Saco for 40 years, and was started by brothers John, Richard, David and Paul Kerry and their cousin Jimmy Sullivan in 1978.

At the end, John Kerry was the sole owner of the restaurant and bar. He closed the establishment in October.

The Kerrymen Pub was a destination for live music as well as traditional Irish food and other items based on family recipes.

The restaurant also served as the meeting place for organizers of Mary’s Walk and the Kerrymen 5K, a combined annual event which has raised more than $3 million for cancer research and programs and began in 1999 as a tribute to the late Mary Kerry Libby.

The Kerry family announced on a Jan. 5 in a Facebook post that the pub had been sold.

“Till we meet again; hopefully over a pint, reminiscing of old times! Thanks for all the love and memories. You can never take away the heart and soul of what we created,” wrote the Kerry family.

Ricetta’s menu at its Falmouth restaurant features specialty pizzas, pasta dishes, wood grilled items and burgers and sandwiches.

“We believe our outstanding product and service, which we have been known for over the past 30 years, will be in very high demand and well received by the community,” said Stephan.

Ricetta’s will retain some elements of the Kerrymen Pub within the redesign of the building, Stephan said. Ricetta’s will continue the Kerry legacy of being “pinnacle members of the community,” he said, and will host Mary’s Walk moving forward.

—Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 780-9015 or email egotthelf@journaltribune.com.

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