Positano Ristorante opens in downtown Wheaton

The owners of Positano Ristorante, an Oakbrook Terrace restaurant that serves traditional Italian pasta and seafood and features an aperitivo scene, plan to repeat the concept in downtown Wheaton.

The white-tablecloth restaurant celebrated its third anniversary last December. Now a second Positano Ristorante is set to take over the space of the former Wok-n-Fire directly across from Wheaton’s French Market Pavilion. The previous sushi restaurant had only limited opening hours.

“It’s great to have this space permanently in use… we’re very excited about opening a new restaurant,” said Jim Kozik, the city’s planning and economic development director.

The planned restaurant will occupy a dining room on the ground floor of a prominent five-story corner building at the corner of Liberty Drive and Cross Street.

Positano offers an extensive menu at his Oakbrook Terrace restaurant, including the classics: a bowl of rigatoni in a vodka-tomato cream sauce, linguine with clams, ravioli and chicken parmigiana with a side of pasta. Aperitivo happy hours include antipasti plates like arancini, toasted burrata and meatballs over polenta.

The owners have not yet announced a timeline for the opening of their new restaurant in Wheaton, but Kozik expects it to be in early fall.

The restaurant group behind Positano has applied for a full liquor license. The city’s Liquor Control Commission is scheduled to review the application during a meeting Thursday night. If the commission recommends approval, the application will go before the City Council on Sept. 3.

The Wok-n-Fire restaurant’s restrooms were located in the lobby of the 120 E. Liberty building. The landlord is currently building restrooms in the restaurant area, Kozik said. Once that work is completed, Positano will begin remodeling the interior. It will have a similar floor plan: the lounge on one side and the restaurant on the other, with the main entrance in between.

The space is easily visible from the street and there is plenty of parking in the evenings and on weekends, Kozik said. The interior can accommodate up to 250 people.