One of Northwest Indiana’s most anticipated new restaurants got a change in name and ownership before opening.
Parisi’s Italian Kitchen has been under construction on the old Lake County Courthouse square in downtown Crown Point for months. It was a partnership between the Meraki Hospitality Group, which runs high-profile restaurants like Lighthouse Restaurant, Provecho Latin Provisions and Ramen District, and the celebrity chef Billy Parisi, an influencer who has more than a million subscribers on YouTube.
It will be rebranded as Sugo, which is Italian for sauce, as Parisi is stepping away.
“We wanted to create an Italian restaurant that’s special enough for life’s biggest moments, but comfortable enough for a Tuesday lunch, a family dinner, or a spontaneous night out. At its heart, Sugo is about hospitality, great food, and creating experiences people remember,” Meraki Hospitality Group founder and owner Chris Pappas said.
Meraki Hospitality Group now plans to open the dining establishment in August. It will feature an elevated take on homestyle Italian cuisine with a menu that includes pasta and wood-fired pizza. It aims to be a destination restaurant where people celebrate special occasions, gather for family dinner or grab weekday lunches.
It will have unique features like build-your-own pizzas for children and a pneumatic cocktail delivery system in which handcrafted cocktails travel between floors through a tube system.
Parisi, who built a sizable social media following with cooking demonstration videos, said the restaurant concept would remain the same.
“When I got involved in this restaurant, it was never just supposed to be just about me. There are other partners involved, many moving parts, and it takes many hands to see it succeed, just like when making a delicious sauce,” he said in a social media post. “It’s the foundation of any Italian restaurant. So, moving forward, Parisi’s will now be called Sugo, which simply means ‘Sauce’ in Italian. Same Italian concept, which will feature amazing food and service in a beautiful restaurant that Crown Point has come to expect from the Meraki Hospitality Group.”
