AMHERST — When an actor known for his famous movie characters such as Han Solo and Indiana Jones decides to dine at your restaurant, his presence alone will bring buzz to your establishment.
That’s what happened late Tuesday morning, when “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” star Harrison Ford, his actress wife Calista Flockhart, who has her own fame from the television series “Ally McBeal,” and their son Liam made Antonio’s Pizza by the Slice on North Pleasant Street their lunch spot.
Jay Carreiro, general manager of Antonio’s, said he had heard Monday that Ford might be in town, staying at the Lord Jeffery Inn, and thought it might be cool if the Hollywood icon decided to try Antonio’s.
“Around 11 a.m. he popped into the store,” Carreiro said. “We tried not to make a scene about it.”
“I took his order like a normal person,” Carreiro added. “They all had slices.”
He said other customers were aware that they were in the presence of celebrities, but gave the family space to eat in peace and not accost them.
“Everyone was pretty subtle about it,” Carreiro said.
Ford finished his meal first and prepared to leave.
“When he got up when he was finished I then asked for a picture with him,” Carreiro said, recalling that Ford didn’t take kindly to being accosted by Sacha Baron Cohen in the movie “Bruno.” But he had nothing to worry about. “He was very nice about it,” Carreiro said.
At the Providence, R.I., Antonio’s, Carreiro recalls serving actress Emma Watson, and said he isn’t sure a more prominent celebrity could ever eat at Antonio’s.
“It doesn’t get much bigger, unless Michael Jackson comes back from the dead,” Carreiro said.