Hometown History #110: When in the Rome, Eat as the Italians Do

Above. a recent view of the Rome Restaurant on East Central Street. The black and white image shows the same area at mid-century. The bowling alley at the center (behind the utility pole) became the original location for Carmie's -- the business the Colace's acquired and grew.

The postwar era saw a resurgence in emigration from Italy, with family and social connections helping to lead some to new lives in Franklin. Among those newcomers were Eugenio and Filomena Colace. Both were from the same small village in the Abruzzi region, roughly south of Rome.

As their son, Jimmy Colace, explains, their path to Franklin was complex. Eugenio’s family was very poor and education beyond elementary school was not expected nor very feasible. But Eugenio’s academic potential had been noted and an uncle who was a priest managed to secure entrance to the seminary for him, where he was able to continue his education for several more years.

And while Eugenio and Filomena wanted to come to America and planned to come to America, Eugenio’s part of the plan unraveled when he was drafted into the Italian military shortly after the couple wed in 1959.

But a couple of year later, Eugenio made it and before long, Franklin was home. A restaurant business wasn’t necessarily in the cards, Jimmy notes, but Eugenio’s close relative owned the popular Union Cafe on Union Street (currently the location of Acapulco).

Jimmy said it was his mother who thought starting a business – a restaurant – was a good idea. And she continued to pester Eugenio until he agreed. The pair took over the location of Carmie’s, adjacent to the current Rome restaurant, from another local entrepreneur.

“It was her idea but once it got going it was really nerve-wracking for her,” Jimmy explained. His father would respond with annoyance to her complaints, in accented English, ‘you wanna starts a businessesa, you wanna starta businessa!’

Fortunately, the Rome was a hit from the start. When the Franklin Sentinel ventured into restaurant reviews in 1966, their spotlight was on the newly opened Rome. They noted that Eugenio Colace and wife Filomena had recently taken over the location, previously known as Carmie’s and made renovations in the kitchen area, food storage areas, and in patron areas, too.

Most of all they praised the good, mostly Italian-style food at reasonable prices.

In the late 1980s, a fire badly damaged the existing structure of the Rome so the family rebuilt in a more commodious structure – the current Rome restaurant building. In the years since, much has changed in town, but the Rome remains family-owned, though Eugenio passed away about 20 years ago. Now, it is Rome’s second generation, the Colace Brothers Carmine, Richard, James, Mario, and Daniel that are carrying the tradition forward.

Mangia!