Feb. 7, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
A Sunnyside restaurant that has been an institution in the neighborhood for more than 30 years is up for sale.
The owners of Mario’s Restaurant, located at 43-04 47th Avenue, are trying to sell the business for $199,000, according to a listing from Charles Rutenberg Realty.
The restaurant has been owned and operated by husband-wife duo Carlos and Lynn Chauca since the 1986, and specializes in northern Italian dishes.
The restaurant marked its 30th anniversary last winter, celebrating the family tradition of the restaurant. It was named after Lynn’s late father when it first opened, and over the years both of the Chaucas’ daughters worked in the restaurant.
Their daughter Angela went on to open her own bakery in Sunnyside called Making that Cake, which was featured on the Food Network show Sweet Genius.
The listing for the business points out that the restaurant is well established in the community and already has the necessary equipment for a new owner to take over. The space seats 40 people, and already has a beer and wine license and all the equipment needed to run a restaurant.
The annual cost of running the business is $70,000 per year, including electric, insurance, repairs and payroll. The listing states that the restaurant generates $160,000 in revenue, leaving net income of $90,000.
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47 Comments
Good the food sucked here 20 yrs ago. I dont know how they stayed in business this long. Probably because ss was full of irish back then and they dont know pizza from real italian cuisine .
Ketchup on toast is pizza
El locos dad? This is bs, el loco dont know who his dad is
Anon- if you get the liquor license its a steal at 199k, are you a nut? The license for a full 2 year liquor license is less than 5k, according to the article marios only has a beer & wine license which i belive is about 1/2 that for 2 yrs. Anon stick to your day job, if you even have one
Sad. The food was simple and definitely not of the more modern, trendy style, but I still liked it for being a classic Queens Italian restaurant. Places like Venturo have more interesting choices, with their seasonal menu. But, we need to keep some of these old-style NY Italian restaurants. Those of you who are native NYers should know what I mean.
Venturo seasonal menu? They haven’t changed a menu in years and especially a seasonal one. Go check again.
The only “Old Fashioned Italian” place left in Sunnyside/Woodside is Donato’s on 39th Avenue across from the Phipps. Not that it hasn’t some flaws, (Televison playing) but it’s still nice when they play old Jimmy Roselli and Al Martino stuff while you eat.
Mario’s food was never really “Up to Snuff”. If you want good Italian food you have to go to Astoria.
Why pj horgans, they had a great run, goodbye goodluck
Most wifes are miserable. You could hit the lotto g or 100million and you wife will still complain
The location is not that great. It’s very well hidden.
And very try….. The wife is miserable … Husbands cool…
id give 199K just to see them woman smile. Mario is great, always cheerful and a good guy though.
I wouldnt give them more than 60k
Rent is listed 36k a year. Actually not bad. However, the numbers dont make sense and i own a similar restaurant in little neck.
my son often makes PB&J, with the crusts cut off. opening up “El Loco’s PB&J” may be a great way to get him out of the house more
As long as there is booze I am there!
200k!!!! Get the f$$k out of here!!!!! And those numbers don’t make sense. It’s worth at most 80k.
Food was iffy, the wife has no personality, GOD forbid she ever smiled, can she smile? Her husband smiles, even if it’s fake. They need to GO AWAY
Does the $70k a year in operations costs include rent? You are buying the name, not the property. Rent is not listed, yet its the company’s biggest expense.
It says 3000 a month
Not a bad idea.
You considered marios fine dining? Really.
Hoping this plan to sell the restaurant doesn’t just develop into an empty storefront – we’ve got enough of those in the 3 blocks surrounding Mario’s. Good luck selling! Hope you find a buyer – it’s a pretty good location!
no one ever in there. where is make that cake?
She uses the restaurant’s kitchen as her bakery.
What about p j Horgan take over
Sorry to see my favorite restaurant go.
It cost $70,000 to run it????
If these people are this dumb they deserve to go out of busines.
Your labor cost alone is more than $70,000
160,000 a year?????
That means the place makes $464.00 in sales a day?????
You’ll make more buying a food truck than buying this place for $200k
What idiot would even want to give them a penny for this place it’s been dead in the water for years.
Any sucker that buys this place for any amount of money is out of there mind.
The fine dining scene is dying everywhere all over the country even the big guys are failing so why would anyone want to buy this place.
People in sunnyside don’t really eat out, only the niche restaurants on the blvd get a surge and then it slows down to a steady revenue, otherwise these “inland” spots not on blvd won’t make much money. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone takes over the place and opens another tattoo parlor or a threading salon or some other nonsense, but whatever it is hope it’s not another bar. We have enough bars in sunnyside, hopefully something different and unique this time. Open an art gallery or something.
What about the rent?
If they have a liquor license and you get it with the purchase, 199k is a steal.
Liquor licenses are not transferable. The new owner would have to apply for a new license.
Maybe Dan you could enlighten us all on the proper way to run a business. I can tell by you eloquent way of speaking that you are very intelligent and highly educated.
Maybe you could get a speak and spell than learn how to form a complete sentence.
Oh, you mean “then learn.” Never post in anger, Dan, take a few moments to calm down. You did come off as a bit of a jerk in your initial post and it was inevitable that someone would call you on it. I don’t know why you had to get so upset that you spelled a word wrong and embarrassed yourself in your retort (almost as bad as Betsy DeVos!)
I also assumed those were supposed to be monthly figures. Maybe if they own the land and don’t have to pay rent? But would the deal include that or would new owner be paying rent?
Seems suspiciously low for a turnkey business is there some major debt that was conveniently not mentioned? Since this is just a repost of a press release, we’ll never know.
There is no way those or monthly numbers, but they also can’t be accurate yearly numbers.
Do the Mario!
Swing your arms from side to side
Come on, it’s time to go!
Do the Mario!
Where did the time go? I remember when they first opened. Thank you for so many great meals and so many great memories. You will be missed.
Time flies by when you spend it watching cartoons and CNN….Don’t worry you can still find some “Authentic Italian” restaurants in Queens…Just put a few more bucks on your metro card..
Luigi’s victorious!
Great place and awesome location! By the way, the agent’s name is Sarah Lee.
Noons can resist Sara Lee.
Food sucks ….. Female owner is a snob… Some food made in there home,a health code violation!!! Good riddance!
Surprising, seriously, for a post to get 87 thumb-downs on this site.
?? Why make food at home when you have a restaurant kitchen? I have seen the kitchen and the place is spotless. Carlos is a gentleman.
Great maybe the bliss can take that spot
What’s The Bliss?