Just two days before the third and fourth rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament were held in Syracuse, Bob Aluzzo decided to push up the opening date of his new Marshall Street restaurant, The Bunker.

The restaurant was not scheduled to open for another two weeks, but Aluzzo figured the large amount of foot traffic from the games would help earn some recognition for his barbecue. Construction was barely complete, the televisions were yet to be installed and the kitchen was not fully equipped, but it was an opportunity that Aluzzo simply could not miss.

Now, two weeks later, The Bunker is still not ready to fully open its doors. Though this weekend had originally been slated as its grand opening, patrons will have to wait at least three more weeks until The Bunker fully opens. The restaurant, which hopes to bring a Dinosaur Bar-B-Que-like feel to the Hill, has still not received the 500-pound barbecuer Aluzzo had ordered for the kitchen.

‘We did have a date set,’ said Michele Terrinoni, the restaurant’s manager. ‘And then the company that had the barbecuer said they couldn’t do it.’

Though Aluzzo and Terrinoni hope to have the necessary kitchen equipment delivered and installed by the third week of April, they plan to continue opening The Bunker each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night as they has been doing for the past two weeks. In the meantime, the restaurant will serve beer, wine and what little food the kitchen can currently make – sausages, chicken wings, jalapeno poppers and French fries – to patrons.

‘So far, it’s been OK,’ Terrinoni said. ‘We haven’t seen a really packed place yet, but we’ve been getting people coming through.’

It’s not the ideal situation for the restaurant, which is almost hidden in its location underneath Student’s Choice Market, but Terrinoni said she hopes this partial opening will help people begin to recognize The Bunker before it begins running advertisements.

‘The thing I like about opening now is that we’re able to work on problems as they come and not be overwhelmed,’ Terrinoni said.

And so far, she said, the feedback she’s received from customers has been nothing but positive.

Still, Aluzzo hopes to avoid any confusion among his customers. While his restaurant currently serves only beer, wine and a seemingly stereotypical array of bar foods, Aluzzo said he doesn’t want customers to think of his establishment as a bar.

‘We’re not looking to be a bar,’ he said. ‘That’s not out intentions at all.’

Aluzzo said he feels no need to acquire a full liquor license – at least not in the near future.

Instead, Aluzzo hopes his restaurant will be to the Hill what Dinosaur Bar-B-Que has become for the downtown area -a sit-down restaurant that plays blues music and, though Aluzzo would rather not harp on it, happens to have a bar.

Brian Levine, a senior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, said he’s looking forward to stopping by it becomes a fully-opened establishment.

‘The sign says there’s going to be live music,’ Levine said, ‘and I love live music. And where else can you get barbecue around here except at Dino?’

Aluzzo couldn’t agree more.

‘There are too many sandwich and pizza places up here,’ he said. ‘We’re the only barbecue place on the Hill. It’s definitely going to give a different flavor to the Hill.’

Published on April 7, 2005 at 12:00 pm