The team behind San Diego's hit Italian restaurant group Buona Forchetta has taken over the former PrepKitchen space in San Marcos to open the company's most northerly restaurant location to date.
Italian native Matteo Cattaneo opened his award-winning Buona Forchetta in San Diego's South Park neighborhood in 2013 and has been packing the house ever since. In March 2017, the company opened an offshoot dubbed Officine Buona Forchetta in Liberty Station, which coincided with the announcement of an incoming, 1,100 square foot Encinitas branch that debuted in October 2018. The team also operates Enoteca Buona Forchetta, an Italian bodega and bistro that sits two doors down from the company's flagship South Park restaurant. Earlier this year, Buona Forchetta ownership opened Matteo, a non-profit breakfast-centric restaurant in South Park, as well as Garage Buona Forchetta in Coronado. A Texas-style barbecue restaurant called Carbón is also expected to open by year's end at 2314 30th Street in South Park. Cattaneo intends to continue expanding his restaurant empire up the California coast, hoping to open a location in San Clemente next year.
Just this week, Cattaneo leased the 3,000 square-foot space that last housed a location of the now-defunct PrepKitchen chain within Block C at the North City mixed use residential and retail development in San Marcos. The newest Buona Forchetta location aims to open in early 2021 or as soon as they can finalize the liquor license for the already-developed site. Like other branches, the restaurant will offer an all-day menu featuring authentic Neapolitan and Roman-style pizzas from a custom Stefano Ferrara Italian pizza oven, as well as appetizers, calzones, fresh pastas, salads, entrees and desserts. The new Buona Forchetta will also offer a breakfast menu with pastries from Matteo and eventually add a retail store selling Italian goods, fresh pasta and bakery items.
For more information about Buona Forchetta, visit buonaforchettasd.com.
