The Ed Pontieri Sandwich from Savarino's
Savarino’s Cucina, the longtime Hillsboro Village destination for Italian-inspired sandwiches, entrées and baked goods, will shut down permanently at the end of April.
The closure was confirmed this morning by Carmelo Savarino, the son of Savarino’s owner Corrado Savarino. The news was first reported earlier today by veteran food writer Jim Myers, who posted the update on his Facebook page. His scoop came a day after he was laid off from The Tennessean, in the daily paper's latest round of brutal cuts.
For fans of Savarino’s food, Carmelo offered some good news. He plans to open his own restaurant in the near future, though he doesn’t yet know the location. The menu will be similar to that of Savarino’s, he noted.
“The sandwiches have to stay,” he said, laughing.
The slate of sandwiches, many named after Savarino’s regular customers, are the most celebrated part of the menu, including the Frank DiLeo, with Italian sausage and broccoli rabe, and the Ed Pontieri, which is stuffed with a bounty of Italian ingredients, including mortadella, soppressata, capicola, bomba and more.
Corrado Savarino, who was born in Sicily and raised in Brooklyn, opened Savarino's on Belcourt Avenue in 2006, and the restaurant immediately gained notice for the pastries, pasta dishes with house-made sauce, and of course the sandwiches. It also became a lively hangout for various regulars, nicknamed the Sandwich Gang.
The Scene’s Jack Silverman highlighted the group in the People Issue in 2009:
“Savarino's has the vibe of a Brooklyn social club, where a coterie of Nashville Italians and Italian food fanatics while away hours gabbing, laughing, reminiscing and interrupting each other with a Yankee intensity that might astound lifelong Southerners.”
A few years ago, Savarino’s added a cocktail bar, Amari, in the building's upstairs level. But now, after 11 years running a restaurant, Corrado Savarino and his wife Maria are tired, Carmelo said. (Prior to opening Savarino’s, they also ran a bakery on Nolensville Road.)
“They wanna semi-retire, they want to relax,” Carmelo said, adding that he hopes to recruit family members to help out when he opens his own restaurant.
Savarino’s will close at the end of business on Saturday, April 29. The restaurant, at 2121 Belcourt Ave., is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. (It’s closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.) Amari opens at 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
