Alex Cooper Auctioneers Inc. expects at least five to 10 bidders to plop down the $50,000 registration fee to bid on the once-popular Little Italy restaurant Luigi Petti.
The restaurant location is being sold as part of a foreclosure sale after a previous auction and winning bid in November fell through.
Luigi Petti at 1000 Eastern Ave. in Baltimore City and has been a fixture in Little Italy since it opened in 1990.
Matt Cooper of Alexander Cooper Auctioneers said he?s not sure how much the restaurant would go for in the auction.
“There have been a million phone calls,” Cooper said.
But, he added, that doesn?t mean there will be a ton of bidders at the auction.
Luigi Petti?s specialty was homemade pasta, veal and seafood. The restaurant features an upstairs banquet hall, basement bar and basement dining as well as an outdoor patio with palm trees.
Not only was Luigi a popular restaurant for couples and families, it was also a hot venue for various groups and organizations.
The Libertarian (Political) Party of Maryland held its 2005 convention at Luigi, and several groups ? including the Chesapeake Chapter of the Professional Convention Management Association and the American Federation of Government Employees ? events at the restaurant.
Other restaurants in Little Italy are doing well, said Roland Keh, co-owner of Amicci?son High Street.
“It?s always surprising when a restaurant, particularly such a big place like Luigi?s, goes out of business,” Keh said. “They were such a popular place, they always seemed busy.”
Keh said business is good at his restaurant. “We are in the middle of an expansion,” he said.
LUIGI TIDBITS
» Luigi Petti has 9,000 square feet of renovated commercial space.
» Auctioneers said it can be converted to residential or other commercial use.
