Don Angie Founders Plot New Italian Restaurant In Former Benny’s Burritos

The recently Michelin-starred restaurateurs are getting ready to debut a brand new concept.

Don Angie is a widely celebrated Italian restaurant from owners Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli. Growing up working in her family’s Italian bakery in Cleveland Ohio, Angie was imbued with a lifelong passion for cooking from a very early age. Beginning her career in the front of house at Park Avenue Seasons, Angie worked her way up to line cook and eventually sous chef, where she met and soon fell in love with Scott. Scott meanwhile had begun his career as an advertising sales rep before eventually enrolling in the French Culinary Institute to pursue his true passion for cooking. Working as a line cook under Park Avenue Seasons’ Craig Koketsu, he soon earned a promotion to sous chef, where he of course met Angie.

After falling in love, the two would go on to go to develop the menu at Quality Italian, an award-winning Italian restaurant from Michael Stillman’s prestigious Quality Branded portfolio. In 2017 though, Angie and Scott were finally able to bring their lifelong vision to life when they opened up Don Angie, showcasing their comforting takes on modern Italian-American cuisine. Also part of the Quality Branded portfolio, Don Angie quickly garnered a tremendous amount of praise after opening, earning a glowing two-star critic’s pick review from the New York Times and nominations from the James Beard Foundation in 2019, 2020, and 2022. Last year though, Scott and Angie reached a new level of success when Don Angie was awarded their first-ever Michelin star.

Now, after over five years of successfully operating Don Angie, it appears that the award-winning couple is once again gearing up to develop a brand-new restaurant concept. According to a recent liquor license application submitted with Community Board Two, Scott and Angie are currently in the process of opening up a new space at 113 Greenwich Avenue, which used to house the popular Mexican restaurant Benny’s Burritos.

Scott and Angie’s latest concept has yet to be officially named, but they are currently operating under the corporate name Saint Sabino LLC. Their application describes the restaurant as a “full-service Italian American restaurant, serving quality food at an accessible price point in a friendly atmosphere.” The location offers an estimated 1,165 square feet of space on the ground floor and 2,000 square feet of space in the basement. There are also plans to develop a 350 square foot sidewalk cafe, which would bring the total number of available seats to 64.

According to a sample menu provided with their application, guests can look forward to enjoying appetizers like amberjack crudo, bbq calamari, and house salami as well as pasta options like stracchino gnocchi and garganelli giganti. Sample main dishes include pesce all griglia, veal da pepi, steak al limone, and grilled pork shoulder alongside their signature lasagna and “lobster for two.”

For the beverage program, Scott and Angie are currently in the process of acquiring the necessary liquor license, and are proposing operating hours of 11:00 AM – 12:00 AM Sunday through Wednesday, and 11:00 AM – 2:00 AM Thursday through Saturday. For more information as the story develops, you can follow Don Angie on Instagram, and if you’d like to try some of Scott and Angie’s signature recipes for yourself, you can order their new cookbook through their website.