Crust Simply Italian to open third Valley location in Gilbert next year
Oct 9, 2021, 5:00 AM
PHOENIX — Italian restaurant Crust Simply Italian is set to open its third Valley location in Gilbert next year, part of a plan to have 10 Arizona locations in the next eight years.
The new location at Williams Field and Recker roads will open in the second quarter of 2022, according to a press release.
Founded in Scottsdale in 2007, the menu includes pizza, pasta, calzones and other classic Italian dishes in addition to various salads and lighter entrees.
A Chandler location includes a speakeasy-style cocktail bar known as The Ostrich, which will also be added to the new restaurant in Gilbert as well.
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The bar offers classics like the Old Fashioned and Aviation along with other creative, nouveau drinks, according to the release.
Michael Merendino, a first-generation Italian-American from Long Island, New York, owns the two other locations and expects to see revenue of $8 million from the three restaurants within the first year, according to the release.
Merendino plans to open one location a year to reach the goal of 10 within the next eight years, according to the release.
He came up with the idea for the restaurant while working as a server in Scottsdale during the 2000s, previously growing up in his father’s pizzeria in New York.
Crust Simply Italian was among 12 restaurants expected to open at a $100 million mixed-use development in Gilbert known as Verde at Cooley Station.
