The owners of the popular, former Italian restaurant Mark Antony's on Route 27 in Wiscasset are returning to the spot where everyone knows their names.

They're bringing the business back as a pub.

“It's something different. I think it's something the area needs,” Mark Buscanera said. The Westport Island man co-owns the building and the businesss with Gayle Simonetti of Wiscasset.

The 27 Pub & Grill at 65 Gardiner Road (Route 27), will be family-friendly and fun, with plans for karaoke and trivia nights, said Buscanera.

Buscanera, 57, got an enthusiastic reception from Wiscasset selectmen on October 15. While he was there getting the nod for the restaurant's liquor license, board members recalled the good Italian food they'd had at Mark Antony's.

In interviews, he and Simonetti, 63, said they both will be involved with cooking at the pub. There will be a small Italian menu with customer favorites from the Mark Antony's years, but the focus will be on pizza, sandwiches, wings and other pub fare, they said.

In coming weeks, the building's interior will transform from the Thai restaurant it had most recently been leased for, to the new, pub theme. Buscanera and Simonetti have continued to own the building since Mark Antony's closed in 2010.

They are aiming to open their new venture sometime between the middle and end of November.

“I'm very excited. I think it's going to be really cool,” Simonetti said.