Up & Coming Weekly

OCTOBER 14-20, 2009 UCW 27 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Business Profile: Pierro's by STEPHANIE CRIDER STEPHANIE CRIDER, Staff Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or Stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com Voted Best Overall Restaurant, Best Wait Staff, Best Restaurant for a First Date, and Best Outdoor Seating by Up & Coming Weekly readers in the 2009 Best of Fayetteville Awards, Pierro's Italian Bistro is firmly established as a great place to go for a fantastic meal, and Co-Owner Michael Laurenceau is delighted about that. It is something he and his business partner Daniel Fair have been striving towards for the past four years, and they plan to continue delivering excellence to their customers. "Through the Best of Fayetteville awards, well, you can see the awards we won, and the ones that I like to see and for anyone new coming into town for them to know is that a good chunk of people think we are one of the better restaurants," said Laurenceau. "We are big on people com- ing and getting good portions for a good price and leaving feeling like they got a good value in a nice atmosphere that you can't find in other places in Fayetteville. We want to be unique. We want to stand out. We want people to feel like when people come from out of town and they want to show their guests a nice place and a good place to go to, that they can come to us." Now that they have earned such a special place in the hearts (and stomachs) of the community, Laurenceau and Fair have no intentions of losing ground or letting their standards slip. They entered the food service with a minimal amount of experi- ence and have fought hard to make this endeavor a success. "There are positives and negatives to running a restaurant. There were a lot of things that were what I expected and also the other side, where a restaurant is one of the toughest businesses you can start, let alone sur- vive," said Laurenceau, add- ing that most new restaurants tend to close within the first two years of opening their doors. There are sacrifices that have to be made to be successful and some people just aren't willing or some- times able to do that. "There are long hours, and the al- most constant battle to win success because once things are the way they need to be, you can't sit back and just watch them — you have to constantly work to keep them like that. You have to be consistent over several years, not over a week or over a month, but over years and years. Otherwise, it is inevi- table...problems will start to break you down if you are not constantly fighting and keeping things they way they need to be." The sacrifice and vigilance that has gone into this popular eatery has definitely been a boon to those in Fayetteville looking for a high-quality dining experience. The exposed brick wall and hardwood floors in the dining room lend an old-world, rustic feeling to the place, and the view from the patio offers great people watching opportunities and relaxing surroundings. The menu offers standard Italian fare like pizza and different pastas, but there are some sophisticated choic- es too, like the Tuscan Ribeye and Atlantic Salmon. Add to that the reasonable prices, and what is not to like? They are open Mon.-Sun. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and are located at 217 Hay St. For reservations or more info, call 678-8885 Pierro's owners Daniel Fair and Michael Laurenceau celebrate their Best of Fayetteville awards.

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