Of the hundreds of ethnic Italian restaurant in Barnet, Italian restaurants, including pizza chains, are the most numerous. They also offer a number of opportunities for aspiring franchisees and entrepreneurs, as well as the chance to develop a new concept.
Italian restaurants owe their origins largely to poor immigrants from southern Italy who opened small grocery stores, bars and restaurants in Italian neighborhoods in the Northeast. The restaurants began serving their ethnic neighbors strongly flavored, familiar food in large portions at low prices.
Dishes were based on home cooking, including pasta, a dough product made from wheat flour and water (with eggs in northern Italy). Spaghetti, derived from the word spago, meaning "string," is a typical pasta. Macaroni, another pasta, has a tubular shape.
In northern Italy, ravioli are filled with cheese or meat, while in southern Italy they are served in a tomato sauce without meat. There are different forms of pasta, each with its own name. Pizza originated in Naples, and it was there that many American soldiers learned to enjoy it during World War II.
Pizza eventually made John Schnatter a millionaire; his Papa John's chain has made hundreds of small business owners rich. Although independent Italian restaurant owners dominate the Italian restaurant business, chain operators spread the pasta concept nationwide, selling franchises to those whose experience and creditworthiness make them suitable.
Italian restaurants franchises range widely, from stand-up restaurants to upscale restaurants where diners are greeted by a maitre d'hotel, seated in a plush chair and served polished silver.
It costs up to $3.5 million to build, equip and open a Romano's Macaroni Grill. As is customary in upscale Romano's restaurants, guests are given an overview of fresh seafood, vegetables and other dishes as they enter the restaurant.
The extensive menu features more than 30 dishes, including bread and pizza baked in a wood-fired oven. The Olive Garden chain is by far the largest of the Italian restaurant chains, with more than 547 establishments. As you might guess, many Italian restaurants also serve what might be called pizza.
Pasta House Co. sells a trademarked pizza called Pizza Luna in the shape of a crescent moon. An appetizer called Portobello Frito contains mushrooms, as does Portobello Fettuccine. Spaghetti Warehouses are located in renovated warehouses downtown and, more recently, in the city's suburbs. Paul and Bill's (neither owner is Italian) offers antipasto, salads and sandwiches at lunch and then changes the menu for dinner.
The sandwiches are replaced by dishes such as veal escalope with artichokes and mushrooms in a Madeira sauce. Osso bucco (veal shank) is another choice. The potato chips are homemade, and a wood-fired oven adds a special glow to the baked breads and pizzas. Fazoli's, a Lexington, Kentucky-based chain, describes itself as fast casual dining.
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