Welcoming another restaurant in downtown Rockville Centre

Rockville Centre is set to welcome another restaurant next month: Mesita, which will serve Mexican food, located at the former site of 212 Sushi on Merrick Avenue.

But as more businesses come to the village, what does that mean for the shops and restaurants that are already here? With the exception of parking, local business owners say it’s mostly good.

Michael Muratore and Jamie Calvello, owners of the nearby Rose and Eye and A Time For Karma, respectively, said that new restaurants bring foot traffic and customers to their stores. However, they both said parking continues to be an issue.

“We feel terrible when someone runs out of here because of the parking meter,” said Calvello.

Muratore said more people should know that there is free parking in the municipal lots on weekends, and that valet parking would ease parking problems and create jobs. “The most important is no vacancies,” he said of the downtown business district. “You don’t want to see vacancies, you want to see activities.”

Angelo Ramunni, the owner of Mexican restaurant Cabo, said valet parking only takes aggravation of parking from the customers, but there is still no place for cars to go. As for the fact that Mesita is also a Mexican restaurant, he said, “I think somebody always takes something from you… As busy as Rockville Centre is, there’s always something taking someone from something.” He said that the competition from the many restaurants in town makes service better by “keeping everyone on their toes.”

Emma Tso, owner of Chat Noir, said that her client base is loyal and understands the trouble with parking. “Pretty much everyone who comes to Rockville Centre to any restaurant knows now what parking situation is like,” she said.

According to village spokeswoman Julie Grilli, the village is trying to improve parking. Currently, it is planning and seeking funding for a redesign of Municipal Lot No. 9, behind El Mariachi, and Lot No. 4 behind Churchill’s, which would add 18 spaces. The village is also trying to get spots from the post office.

“Parking issues are a good thing,” said Greg Schaefer, Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce vice president. “It means that the town is thriving.” He did acknowledge that the parking issue has been around for many years.