A $40-a-head Italian concept launched in tribute to a Phoenix restaurant legend is now eyeing 20 locations across the country. The Sicilian Butcher, the red-sauce chain Joey Maggiore created to honor his father Tomaso Maggiore’s decades-long run in Phoenix dining, has received private-equity backing announced in 2022 as it pushes into new states.
A Tribute Rooted in Tomaso’s Phoenix Legacy
Joey Maggiore launched The Sicilian Butcher in 2017 to honor his father, according to Restaurant Business. Tomaso Maggiore and his wife Patricia opened Tomaso’s Italian Restaurant in Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor in September 1977, according to Phoenix Magazine, and the restaurant operated for more than 50 years before closing, per Restaurant Business. Tomaso died after a long battle with lung cancer at age 73, Phoenix Magazine reported.
Joey grew up in his father’s restaurant, and he has said the new concept was his way of keeping that connection alive. “My father came from a small town in Sicily. He made the American dream, and that was to come to America and never forget where you came from, but love what we do here,” Joey Maggiore said, per the Restaurant Business report. He added that he wanted his father “to have a taste of Sicily in his back yard.”
Fresh Pasta, Interactive Boards and a $40 Check
The Sicilian Butcher bills itself as a casual-dining red-sauce Italian concept with a playful, interactive spirit, the outlet’s report notes. All pastas and sauces are made fresh in each restaurant, and guests can choose their own pasta, sauce and meatballs — including sicilian-style meatballs made with veal, prime beef, pork, sharp provolone, parmesan, herbed breadcrumbs and raisins, Tony’s steak meatballs built on aged ribeye, and eggplant meatballs with roasted eggplant, basil, parmesan and mozzarella.
Signature plates include Lasagna Al Forno, Ravioli Cacio e Pepe and Veal Piccata, with an average check of about $40 per person, the same report states. Larger groups can order a five-foot-long Sicilian strada board, priced per person, that lets diners pick meats, cheeses, bruschetta, olives and crispy calamari — a board that, per a separate account from FSR Magazine, serves four or five people. Smaller parties can opt for a meatball or cannoli ferris wheel, and every location houses The Sicilian Baker, a dessert concept with its own separate entrance offering house-made cannolis, gelato and other sweets that do brisk to-go business, according to the restaurant business report.
Savory Fund Bets Up to $30 Million on Growth
Savory Fund, a Salt Lake City-based private-equity firm that specializes in young, emerging brands, acquired a majority interest in The Sicilian Butcher and is allocating up to $30 million toward it and The Sicilian Baker, according to a Savory Fund statement. The deal marks Savory’s 10th emerging-brand investment and its second in a Maggiore brand — the fund previously put $20 million into Hash Kitchen in November 2021, according to the same statement. Savory Fund said Joey and Christina Maggiore will remain involved in developing the brands going forward…