North Italia opened in the former Bravo! Italian Kitchen space at Village Pointe this past November. The concept was created by Sam Fox under Fox Restaurant Concepts in 2002. Fox focuses on high-quality, accessible concepts often described as “polished casual.” In 2021, with 17 locations at the time, both North Italia and Fox Restaurant Concepts were acquired by The Cheesecake Factory. Today, there are 48 North Italia locations across the United States.
Despite the name, the menu isn’t limited to Northern Italian cuisine, pulling from both northern and southern traditions. For example, the squid ink tonarelli is a southern Italian dish. The “North” in the name came about simply because the original Arizona location was north of Tucson.
Tanner Moses is the general manager. He’s worked in restaurants nearly his entire working life, starting as a host at Olive Garden at 16 with a goal of becoming a server. At the time, he hadn’t considered a career in the industry beyond that. But while in college, he worked at a fine dining steakhouse.
“That’s where my passion for the industry really grew,” he said…