North Italia Opens First Bay Area Location
The scratch-kitchen Italian restaurant chain North Italia has opened its first location in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new restaurant is located in Walnut Creek and features a menu centered on fresh pasta and other Italian dishes.
North Italia is a subsidiary of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated, which acquired the brand as part of its 2019 purchase of Fox Restaurant Concepts. The deal, valued at over $300 million, brought founder Sam Fox's restaurant group, including North Italia and Flower Child, under the Cheesecake Factory's umbrella to accelerate national growth. Following the acquisition, North Italia's operations were moved to The Cheesecake Factory's corporate headquarters in Calabasas Hills to help scale the concept. The parent company has stated plans for aggressive, 20%-plus annual unit growth for the North Italia brand. The new Walnut Creek restaurant is located at 1179 Locust St. in the Plaza Escuela shopping center. The 8,500-square-foot space features an open kitchen, an outdoor bar and patio, and has capacity for more than 200 guests. To connect with the local community, the restaurant features a custom interior mural inspired by Northern California landscapes. The piece was designed by the San Francisco-based arts agency Local Edition Creative and includes imagery that references the Golden Gate Bridge. This opening marks North Italia's first location in the Bay Area and its seventh in California. The chain, which was founded in Arizona in 2002, is approaching 50 locations nationwide and plans to open another Southern California restaurant in Brea later this year.
