- Olimpio’s will be opening Feb. 5, with a mix of Portuguese and Italian American cuisine.
- The restaurant is inside St. John’s Athletic Club on Rodman Street.
- Executive chef Joey Medeiros has more than 30 years of restaurant experience.
- The spot is where celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse began his career in cooking.
FALL RIVER — It’s a kitchen that’s been the one-time home to a long line of local — and even world-renowned — cooking talent.
Now a Rhode Island chef is looking to make his mark at the South End space with his own concept that’s a slight departure for the longtime Portuguese food fixture.
Following the exit of Acores Family Restaurant in late December, executive chef Joey Medeiros has taken the reins at the restaurant space located inside St. John’s Athletic Club with the opening of Olimpio’s on Thursday, Feb. 6.
“I want to be able to bring some fresh air and new breath of life into a place where Emeril Lagasse cut his teeth and Ines [DeCosta, family friend and mentor to Lagasse] was forever known as probably the best cook in the Fall River area,” said Medeiros.
He’ll be manning the same kitchen where Lagasse — famous restaurateur, host, author and cooking icon who hails from Fall River — spent his early years.
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“It’s a cool company to be in,” Medeiros added. “It’s a nice challenge and it’s something that I’m looking forward to doing.”
The 50-year-old East Providence native is serving a spin on traditional Portuguese fare that’s long-defined the 1365 Rodman St. spot. But that’s only a small portion of his diverse menu, centered largely on Italian American cuisine.
Medeiros said he aims to bring something different to an area already brimming with a bounty of well-established Luso eateries.
“It’ll be a Portuguese-Italian American hybrid … a place where everyone can get something that they want, and not just stuck with one sole cuisine,” said Medeiros, noting his focus on a menu with “complexity” and that’s more “option-heavy” than the Fall River area has seen before under one roof.
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Why Fall River was the perfect fit
No stranger to the Fall River, Medeiros recalls as a child making the trek across the Braga Bridge with his family on weekends when they craved Portuguese dining. “It was the Mecca in the ’80s and ’90s,” he said.
And though he’s not Italian by heritage, Medeiros got his start in the food service industry at a young age working at a well-known Italian family restaurant in the East Providence area, followed by stints at a similar Seekonk spot, and the former Mediterraneo on Federal Hill in Providence, so “I picked it up (Italian cooking) and it became my background and backbone.”
Now, with over 30 years of restaurant experience under his belt — more than 20 as executive chef — Medeiros said he is excited to take on this latest adventure in the Spindle City.
“The time we’ve taken has helped round out and complete the vision that I had of what’s best for the club and the community,” Medeiros said.
According to Medeiros, the wheels slowly started turning on his Fall River venture three years ago when talks with owners of the SJAC board initially began. However, the timing wasn’t right for either side at the time. Recently, following the departure of the club’s latest restaurant tenant, Medeiros said “the stars aligned.”
What to expect at Olimpio’s
According to Medeiros, Olimpio’s menu goes beyond your “normal Portuguese traditional cuisine with fresh pastas, an abundance of different seafood, and presents the Portuguese food in a different way than everyone is used to eating it.”
The goal is to offer a “high-level plate at a blue-collar price.”
At Olimpio’s, diners will find a large staple menu — which includes highlights like their Portuguese house steak, baked stuffed or steamed lobster, shrimp scampi, veal, clam bellies and clam strips, steamers, and prime rib offered every night — as well as seasonal offerings and constantly rotating specials and planned specialty nights, from wing night to taco night to ramen night.
Olimpio’s will also be offering catering to go and for those who rent the St. John’s hall.
“We’re where you want to be for your special occasions and moments,” Medeiros said.
The dining room accommodates 65 people, not counting the bar area with another 25 to 30.
Upgrades to the space included lighting changes — out with the stark fluorescent lighting and in with antique-looking LED Edison bulbs that will be strung from the ceiling and dimmed, so “instead of the cafeteria or hall kind of look it’s a very clean, intimate space now.”
Medeiros brings 30 years of restaurant experience
Olimpio’s, which Medeiros named after his uncle, will be Medeiros’ third such restaurant with a similar concept.
He is headed into his third season as owner and chef at a seasonal restaurant located within a Vermont golf course that’s only open during the summer months.
And prior to that, in early 2020, Medeiros had opened an Italian restaurant in a social club in East Providence. But a month later the COVID pandemic hit and the shutdown came, so business ceased.
While he recognizes the challenges of operating a restaurant within a rental space — including the lack of revenue from liquor sales, which go to the club — “it’s a good fit if you know exactly what you’re prices points are, what your budget is, how much work you can do and … consistency is key,” he said.
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Olimpio’s hoping to be there for ‘the long haul’
St. John’s Club was previously home to Acores Family Restaurant, which left after 10 months to expand its business to their own location in Swansea. They had opened in the St. John’s space in March 2024 after it was vacated by Ocean Star Restaurant, which has since reopened at the former Beira Alta location on Plymouth Avenue in Fall River.
Though it’s been a bit of a revolving door recently in terms of restaurant tenants, Medeiros said he plans to be a mainstay at the Rodman Street location.
“We’re staying for the long haul,” he said.
When can I visit?
February hours at Olimpio’s are Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. for lunch and 4 to 10 p.m. for dinner, and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. They are closed Monday and Tuesday.
According to Medeiros, he aims to expand days and hours of operation as they move forward.
For updates on Olimpio’s or a peek at their menu, visit their Facebook page.
Rhode Show spotlight
In an effort to help launch his new Spindle City restaurant, Medeiros will be appearing on WPRI’s Rhode Show program on Feb. 24. He’ll be doing a cooking segment and shining a spotlight on Olimpio’s and the Fall River area as a whole.
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