Comella's Restaurant Entering Center's Eatery Scene

It's well-known for its "mess"-y menu and a distinct family-friendly atmosphere serving homemade Italian food in the Boston suburbs.

And sometime before Christmas, Belmont will also get the chance to experience this growing franchise for themselves. 

Comella's Restraurants, with eight locations including Arlington, Concord and West Newton, has signed a lease with the owner of 43 Leonard St., Joseph Tellier, and hope, according to sources in the Community Development Department, to be open "before the holidays" at the former location of the Charlesbank Bookshop.

The franchise is known for its casual climate: patrons order at the counter and either take out and have it served at the tables. Most of Comella's places are quite small – the West Newton location has only ten-seats – and located in busy central neighborhoods.

Its menu is straight forward and reasonably priced. Comella's is best know for its "family messes": a pasta dish with marinara sauce and cheese with about 30 different variations from simple (Pa's Mess which adds meatballs) to extravagant (Uncle Butch's Mess with shells, lasagna, eggplant, chicken, veal, shrimp, meatballs, sausage and vegetables).

And when it opens, Comella's, which happily sells its food in half and full sized buckets, will bring its concept of fresh Italian cuisine almost directly across Leonard Street from il Casale, Belmont's best-known destination eatery that has won regional praise for its own Italian dishes.

According to information supplied to the Planning Department, the ninth Comella's will be a 85 seat restaurant with liquor, beer and wine at a semi-circular bar and an active take out service. The eatery will have six full-time employees.

The proposed operating hours would be Sunday - Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday - Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Comella's representatives will be before the Belmont Planning Board on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 7:10 p.m. seeking design and site plan approval to waive the parking requirement – 35 additional spaces under the current zoning by-law – to operate a restaurant.

Ever since the closing of the Charlesbank Bookshop in December, Belmont Center has been looking for a suitable replacement business that will straddle Starbucks and Bruegger's Bagels.

Since late spring, life has been returning to the business heart of town: the ice cream store, moved from Belmont Street to 36 Leonard St. and a new store, will open soon at 51 Leonard St. 

Because of its relative small size, any restaurant would not need Zoning Board of Appeal approval, falling below the minimum square footage and would only come before the Planning Board on parking concerns.