New Restaurant to Bring Italian Flavor to Mackenzie Road

A new Italian restaurant is opening soon in Affton. Martello’s, at 8025 Mackenzie Rd., is slated to open later this month with a menu spiced with inspiration from the Abruzzo region of Italy.

Martello’s will be located at the 2-year-old shopping plaza at Mackenzie and Heege Road. It has a large dining area as well as a separate bar area. John Hammers, manager and head chef, promises that the restaurant will be “upscale with a comfortable, casual theme.”

The food will be Italian, along with a wide mix of salads and sandwiches. Hammers said that the restaurant takes a cue from the heavily spiced cuisine of the Abruzzo region in Italy, where one can find the Martello Valley.

Hammers has been involved in several other restaurants, and the three partners who own Martello’s have a few other notable ventures in the region, including O’Aces in Imperial, and Iggy’s in Valley Park.

Martello’s will also have what Hammers calls a “low-key sports theme,” with old pictures of baseball players on the walls and a few televisions around the bar and dining area. He said he hopes to cater to local baseball players coming out with their families after games in the spring.

Hammers said he also hopes the restaurant will become popular with local businesspeople looking for a more high-class place to take clients to lunch. The lunch menu, he said, will be competitively priced.

The restaurant has plans to opening a 110-seat patio area as well, either later this fall or next spring.

The name of the restaurant comes in part of the Abruzzo valley, but also from Hammers’ name.

“I was striking out left and right trying to find some kind of name for the place,” Hammers said.

He found out that “martello” is the Italian word for a hammer, and with a little research he found out about the Martello Valley and Abruzzo cuisine.

Martello’s will be open starting mid to late September.