A new family style Italian restaurant will open later this year at the Market Street building that long housed Sorge’s Restaurant.
Ellen and Michael Lanahan, who have owned and operated The Cellar since July 2015 at 21 W. Market St., plan to open an Italian restaurant at 68 W. Market St. The building formerly housed Sorge’s Restaurant since 1951.
“It will be a family style Italian restaurant, and everything will be made from scratch,” said Ellen Lanahan. “The timeline is kind of up in the air. We have a lot of moving parts, but we hope to open sometime in December.”
Ellen Lanahan said she and her husband Michael have an idea for the restaurant’s name, but they are still working on the final details.
“It will be a new restaurant, with new concepts, different that the previous owner,” Ellen Lanahan said. “The Cellar will stay open. The homemade style Italian restaurant will be an additional eatery.”
Sorge’s was a Corning institution for 73 years prior to its December 2024 closing.
“The building that housed Sorge’s being vacant felt like something is missing after decades of having something there. It will be really nice for the community (to have a restaurant back),” Lanahan said.
Jen Miller, Corning City Planning and Economic Director, said the new restaurant will be an asset to the city and the entire community.
“It’s great to see another addition to Market Street,” Miller said. “It’s exciting to see something like this moving into that location.”
Corning City Deputy Mayor Jeff Clark agreed.
“It’s great that there is another restaurant coming in,” Clark said. “It’s a wonderful space. I’m happy it is still going to be an Italian restaurant. I’m looking forward to it and happy it will be used for the same purpose.”
The Lanahans will rent the building, which is owned by Barry Nicholson.
History of the former Sorge’s site
Sorge’s opened on Market Street in June 1951, operated by Renato and Loretta Sorge, along with Renato’s brother, Remo.
One of the biggest challenges Sorge’s overcame was a Dec. 27, 2008, blaze that almost completely destroyed the restaurant building and damaged several other storefronts on that block of Market Street.
With an outpouring of support from the community, the restaurant was able to rebuild and reopen to the public in April 2010.
That tradition came to an end Dec. 31, 2024 when Sorge’s closed its doors for good.
This article originally appeared on The Leader: New family style Italian restaurant to open at former Sorge’s in Corning. What we know
Reporting by Jeff Smith, Corning Leader / The Leader
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
