by Eric Convey

Forget the white tablecloths and some features from the old menu. Big changes are underway at Papa Razzi, the longtime Boston-area restaurant chain known for good, if predictable, Italian food served in semi-formal surroundings. Newport Restaurant Group, which bought the chain two years ago, is reintroducing locations one-by-one as Papa Razzi Metro.

The goal, company president Paul O'Reilly said in a recent interview at the revamped Burlington location, is "appealing to a wider demographic than we have before." On the menu side, look for: fresh pasta and bread made daily on location; Italian sodas and limoncello made in-house; and the addition of a salumi (cured meats) and cheese bar. The Burlington restaurant recently added an authentic Neapolitan pizza oven. There's a "wider, more ambitious use of ingredients,"O'Reilly said.

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