A Taste of Italy in Raleigh at Giorgio Pizza Bar, North Hills
I was a budget backpacker when I toured Italy in a campervan with four girlfriends back in 1998. It wasn’t a culinary experience by any means, but we made sure we had a thousand lira each day for a gelato (and yes, two weeks of that will put on weight even when you’re 22). But one meal I’ll never ever forget, in fact I can still taste it, was the c...
Casa Cotzelli is a Hidden Gem
It’s likely Island Walk residents are in the know, but those not living within the gated community may be unaware of a new restaurant there that’s open to the public. (Nonresidents need to make reservations on OpenTable or via the restaurant’s website.) Casa Cotzelli is a 150-seat Italian restaurant serving lunch and dinner. The name is a combinati...
Ciao! Italian the Way It Should Be Done
In the vibrant heart of Fernandina Beach, Florida, there’s a little gem known as Ciao Italian Eatery. Nestled on Centre Street, this restaurant is a beacon of deliciousness that promises a delightful dining experience. Spoiler alert: it delivers. As soon as I set foot inside, I was greeted by a surprisingly spacious interior. Ciao might seem like a...
She was born in Sicily and learned to cook there. Now she has a deli/restaurant in Ocala
Lena Camperlengo has found her haven for Italian food in downtown Ocala. “I know Italian food and this is it,” she said about the freshly made fare at the family owned Let’s Eat Fresh: Food to Live For, a dine-in deli and more located at 801 N. Magnolia Ave. Camperlengo discovered Let’s Eat Fresh when she visited the Ocala Downtown Market, where th...
Dunwoody Gains an Italian Restaurant and Neapolitan Pizzeria From a Prolific Atlanta Restaurateur
Italian restaurant and Neapolitan pizzeria Grana is now open at the Ashford Lane development in Dunwoody. It becomes the second location for the restaurant, which first opened on Piedmont Avenue in Piedmont Heights three years ago. Own by Atlanta chef Pat Pascarella, Grana features a menu of wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, handmade pastas for which P...
Italian bakery and restaurant serves food and desserts like grandma made
With hungry appetites and noon approaching, we decided to have lunch at "grandmother’s" house. Based on our collective experience with our own grandmothers’ cooking, our expectations were high for Nonna’s Bistro in Port St. Lucie. (Nonna is the Italian word for grandmother.) In a world of boring shopping center facades, the architecture where Nonna...
Surfside (SC) is getting a new Italian market and bakery. Here’s where and when it will open
Louis Leggio is an unapologetic New Yorker. “The South is nice, but it’s too laid back for me,” Leggio said. “I’m from the hustle and bustle of big cities with millions and millions of people.” Leggio moved to the Grand Strand 13 years ago, and he said it was hard to find places to buy things he liked to eat back home. “I got frustrated with it,” H...
Tampa’s celebrated Italian restaurant, Bavaro’s, expanding into Clearwater Beach
Bavaro’s, one of the top Italian restaurants in Tampa, is expanding with a brand new location in Clearwater. Construction has officially begun on the Clearwater Beach location in Mandalay Plaza (458 Mandalay Avenue), confirms Dan Bavaro. The founder and owner of the restaurant took to Facebook to express his gratitude for the continued support of h...
Hidden Inside A Neighborhood Market, This Old-School Deli Makes The Best Sandwiches In North Carolina
For some of the best old-school deli sandwiches in North Carolina, visit Ferrucci’s Old Tyme Italian Market in Cornelius. This Italian market offers a world-class butcher shop, an Italian specialty food store, and catering all in one charming location. And the best part — the staff at Ferrucci’s Old Tyme Italian Market build some of the greatest-ta...
New Italian restaurant, with bar truck and more, open in Sarasota-Bradenton
A new Italian restaurant featuring the same owner as another local eatery — as well as a wood-burning oven built atop a Fiat 500 car and an outdoor bar fashioned out of an Italian truck — has opened its doors. Osteria 500 is now open at 1580 Lakefront Drive in Waterside Place, the Lakewood Ranch development in Sarasota County. The new restaurant's...
Italian restaurant will serve deep-fried gelato plus pasta, pizza specials
An Italian restaurant that will specialize in fried gelato has opened in Fort Pierce. Aunt G’s Italian Kitchen opened July 18 in the Sabal Palm Plaza. Owner O.J. Molinaro named it after his aunt who immigrated from Italy to Illinois. Molinaro believes he’ll be the one to finally find success in that location, where many previous restaurants have fa...
An All-Day Italian Restaurant and Espresso Bar With a Late-Night Lounge Opens in Buckhead
Italian restaurant Portofino closed last year after 22 years on Paces Ferry Place in Buckhead, but a new Italian restaurant with an espresso and salotto bar is set to replace it Friday, August 4. Bar Ti Amo (“I love you” in Italian) owned by restaurateur and Tuscan native Marco Betti, brings Buckhead an all-day spot with an espresso bar offering br...