The walls of Mama Nunz, a local Greencastle restaurant, are covered in vintage DePauw photographs and memorabilia. Yet while the space used to have strong ties to the school, the owner has recently seen a drop in student customers.
The restaurant, which was passed down to Nunzio Cancilla, a second-generation Italian, used to be a flourishing spot for DePauw students to visit between classes and on weekends. However, the original owner, JoRuth Cancilla, also known as Mama Nunz, said that in her sixty years of working there, she has rarely seen the restaurant so deserted.
JoRuth Cancilla believes this is because “students have been told not to come down here. It’s an undesirable part of town, and there isn’t anything down here besides me, so I’m sorry I kinda take that the wrong way.”
While the restaurant focuses on Italian food, Nunzio Cancilla said that the menu is big enough to accomodate different tastes.“If you bring ten or twenty people in here, somebody will always find something they want,” Nunzio Cancilla said.
Nunzio and JoRuth Cancilla, who both help prepare the food, both said their favorite dish is the Mostaccioli. While Frankie and JoRuth Cancilla originally opened the restaurant in 1952 in Crawfordsville, Ind., the pair relocated to the Square in downtown Greencastle a few years after opening.
Despite already moving once, the city of Greencastle decided to turn the business’ location into a parking lot for the Greencastle Post Office, so Mama Nunz moved to the south side of town.“It’s probably too inconvenient for them [the students] to walk there, to the south side of Greencastle,” said first-year Miguel Suarez regarding why student customers have declined in recent years.
Though the location may not be the strongest for the business, Nunzio Cancilla said he enjoys having a local restaurant.
“You meet a lot of people from campus and people who are travelling through our state,” Nunzio Cancilla said. “I would say it’s a 50-50 type thing. 50 percent students, 50 percent townspeople, and some people that’s driving through.”
Currently, the DePauw and Greencastle communities have been working to build up the Square by introducing new restaurants, such as the Tap House 24. Nunzio Cancilla said that, while he thinks the downtown development will benefit the students, it means less business for him. “I’m stuck down here. I’ll never get away from the south end. I just hope that people remember me down here because I’ve got some great food,” he said.
When asked about the quality of his relationship with DePauw students Nunzio Cancilla said, “I think it’s pretty good. I have made some mistakes, and I’d like to apologize for mistakes. I’m just human. I ask people questions and maybe I shouldn’t ask people those questions. I’d like to apologize. But I think overall it’s good. I don’t see any problems with anybody.”