Pizza Restaurant Hot Italian Returning To Sacramento With To-Go Format

Pizza eatery Hot Italian, which previously operated restaurants in Midtown Sacramento and Davis, is returning to the area with some changes to its format.

The eatery, co-founded by Fabrizio Cercatore and Andrea Lepore, debuted in 2009 at 1627 16th St. in Midtown, before expanding to Emeryville in 2012 and Davis in 2016. The Davis restaurant closed in 2018, followed by the remaining sites in Sacramento and Emeryville as the business struggled financially. An internal dispute between investors surfaced involving Lepore, a well-known local restaurateur who is no longer affiliated with Hot Italian.

After a few years away, Cercatore last July announced on social media that the pizzeria was making a comeback with a to-go and delivery location at 2326 Fifth St. in Berkeley. The Italian-born chef also owns Passione Brands, which sells pizza dough, flour, pasta and gelato to distributors, restaurants and home chefs, according to its website.