CUMMING – A turnover in local eateries, including one that was off the downtown Cumming square for 14 years, is about to result in a new restaurant with an old face.

Salvatore Salamone, who ran Sal’s Place with his family on West Courthouse Square until selling it to its current owners at the end of the summer, will open the doors to Grazie Mille early next week at 1370 Buford Highway.

The restaurant, whose name means “a thousand thanks” in Italian, marks the turning of a page for Salamone, who said he wants to change his menu and work in a new space.

That new space is where Maxwell Street Chicago Eatery operated from August 2015 until late November after closing for “unforeseen circumstances.”

“I wanted to do something different, was thinking further up north like maybe toward Dahlonega, and I happened to be looking around and stumbled across this place,” he said.

He said he knows the man who owned Maxwell Street and was realized this was where he needed to be.

“I was space-limited [in downtown Cumming], and the customers were accustomed to exactly what they liked and what they had for so long,” he said.

The menu, which Salamone and his staff were still tinkering with on Thursday, will retain the standard of fresh ingredients prepared in-house, but the dishes will be “more traditional-style Italian. No dinners. Nice paninis, strombolis, calzones, pizzas, salads. I’m working on some different salads.”

Once open – Salamone predicted Monday or Tuesday – the eatery will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and, ideally, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Eventually, he said, he hopes to serve customers seven days a week, as was the case for Maxwell Street.

He noted the continuity between the two. Some staff from Maxwell Street has stayed on to work at Grazie Mille.

“They seem very excited. They were up to try new stuff as well, and make it fun again,” he said.

To move so close to his old stomping grounds was “unexpected” and was not, Salamone said, meant to compete with what is still Sal’s Place.

“The last thing I ever wanted to do was sell my other business and open up to try to compete with them. It never crossed my mine. No. I’m not that person,” he said. “I wish them the best and hope they do well. This was by accident. The location fit with what I wanted to do, and it is still close to home.”

Home is important to Salamone, whose grandmother, Nona, could be seen stirring a massive pot on the stove Thursday.

He said that’s why he named his second restaurant for words of thanks – to his family and to his longtime customers.

“I appreciate the people coming to support me this long. And I just wanted to say thank you,” he said. “My grandmother is my rock. She just turned 85 … a lot of the food are old family recipes. They’ve helped me the whole way. Of course, my mother and father were on the staff. My father still gives me pointers. My mother is still always ready to give a helping hand.

“Without them, it’d be just about impossible to do.”