Marino's Lunch, a legendary restaurant and music venue, set to reopen in March

STAUNTON — Felicia Sheets finally left her full-time job earlier this month. Until then, she had been putting in about 120 hours a week between that job and preparing her new restaurant, Marino's Lunch, for customers.

Sheets made it 15 minutes into an interview Wednesday before the tears came. Opening her own restaurant has been a dream since she began working in the food industry at the age of 15. The Augusta County native, a graduate of Riverheads High School and James Madison University, announced in December that she and her husband, Christopher, were finally making that dream come true with Marino's Lunch.

The ribbon cutting on the new Marino's will be Monday, March 25 at 3 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided. The restaurant will open to customers later that week, most likely March 28.

When asked what it meant to be this close to that dream, Sheets paused to wipe away some tears before answering. Her husband joked she probably shouldn't have cried before her photo was taken for the story.

"I just can't say how grateful I am," Felicia Sheets said. "It's something I always wanted to do. 'Why am I still doing this?' is sometimes what ask myself but it's just what I love. And finally doing it for us is priceless."

Victor and Nathalie Meyer bought Marino's n 2018, reopening the restaurant in April 2022. But COVID, plus a lack of help, ended up forcing the Meyers to close at the end of that year. It remained closed for all of 2023. The Meyers, who both have full-time jobs, were looking for someone who could lease the restaurant and put their full attention to reopening it. It took time, but they finally found Felicia Sheets.

"It's been crazy, a lot of work just going through the fine details and taking inventory and figuring out what you have, what you don't have," she said. "Some days you ask yourself where do I even start? But you know, it's been awesome."

The plan is to be open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Marino's will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast will include eggs with a side of bacon, country ham, western ham, corned beef hash or ribeye steak. They'll also serve various omelettes, hotcakes and waffles. Breakfast cocktails will also be available, including mimosas and bloody marys.

Lunch will feature a variety of diner foods. Marino's will have hot dogs, including Chicago-, Italian- and pizza-style. There's also a pimento and bacon dog on the menu.

There will be hand tossed wings, signature burgers and flatbread pizza.

Among the burgers will be a southern burger with pimento, bacon and pickled onion; a cowboy burger with American and mozzarella cheese, bacon and onion rings; a black and blue burger with blue cheese and bacon; and a veggie burger.

The menu also includes mac-n-cheese bowls, a variety of salads, sides and starters. Sheets said there would also be a kids menu.

There will also be music, something for which Marino's is known.

"We'll start jam sessions on Tuesdays," Sheets said. "I have met with several musicians. They've been awesome to talk to. Then we'll probably do some jam sessions and bands on Friday nights."

Among the musicians Sheets said she's confirmed to play is Mojo Parker, who will perform once a month through the summer, maybe longer.

"It'll be great when the patio is open," Sheets said. "We will have full dinner service and breakfast service out there."

Inside Marino's are 61 seats. With the patio, Sheets said she feels comfortable with as many as 108 people. There will also be a parking lot for 15 to 20 cars, plus some on-the-street parking. Marino's is not far from many of the parking spaces in downtown Staunton, although Sheets said on a really busy night it can get a little tricky.

That's a problem — a busy night — that she'll gladly deal with. She and Christopher are excited to finally open the doors for customers.

"There's nothing like it and Staunton," Sheets said. "I'm excited to share it with everybody."

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton's iconic Marino's Lunch to reopen before the end of March