Sacramento bistro to open with ‘comfortable and easy’ Italian dining. What’s inside?

Brianna Taylor
·2 min read

You’ll soon be able to enjoy champagne and Neapolitan thin crust pizza — baked in an Italian brick oven — without leaving the capital region.

Pazza Notte Restaurant is slated to open its doors to midtown in late September, owner Tove Nord confirmed in an email to The Sacramento Bee. The official opening comes more than a year after the New York City Italian bistro and bar announced its West Coast spring 2023 expansion.

“It’s kind of our fault,” said the Sacramento native, who originally hoped to open the restaurant in March.

The imported oven from Italy added months to the permitting process and the business wasn’t approved to be part of the city of Sacramento’s Al Fresco Dining Program until early June. Now, as Pazza Notte works toward its fall opening, Nord said the vision promised to Sacramento residents over a year ago remains the same.

The doors to Pazza Notte Restaurant at 1801 L St., Sacramento, are covered on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. The New York City business first announced the expansion in July 2022 with an original opening date of spring 2023.
The doors to Pazza Notte Restaurant at 1801 L St., Sacramento, are covered on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. The New York City business first announced the expansion in July 2022 with an original opening date of spring 2023.

What will Pazza Notte in Sacramento look like?

The 2,891-square-foot space at 1801 L St. will feature a brick oven, happy hour and a DJ, according to a 2022 news release.

The star of the show will be the outdoor patio, which will seat 50 people. Nord said the space is slowly being transformed into a “Jumanji jungle” with a planter wall and imported handmade tiles for a classic Mediterranean cafe vibe.

“This patio is our baby,” she wrote in an email to The Bee. “We have visualized her for over a year and it is so gratifying to see it all coming together.”

Inside, customers will be greeted with a mosaic entrance. Black and white vintage photos will cover the walls and you’ll be able to watch the entire cooking process through the open kitchen.

The mosaic entrance to Pazza Notte Restaurant at 1801 L St., Sacramento. The New York City Italian bistro and bar is slated to open its doors to midtown in late September, owner Tove Nord confirmed in an email to The Sacramento Bee.
The mosaic entrance to Pazza Notte Restaurant at 1801 L St., Sacramento. The New York City Italian bistro and bar is slated to open its doors to midtown in late September, owner Tove Nord confirmed in an email to The Sacramento Bee.

Pazza Notte is bringing its New York City motto — under promise and over deliver — to Sacramento. Prices are expected to be moderate for a fusion of Italian and American comfort food including pizza, pasta and housemade gelato.

“Pazza Notte celebrates all things Italian, the food, the hospitality, the warm and inviting culture,” the New York-based restaurant wrote on its Facebook page.

More than 3,000 miles away near Manhattan’s Central Park, prices range from a $10 side of truffle parmesan fries to a $31 plate of pasta with lobster, shrimp, crab, asparagus and tomatoes. The eight different types of thin crust pizzas range from $22 to $27 with goat cheese, barbecue chicken, truffle and smoked gouda. The drink menu is extensive, with choices of wines, martinis, beer and champagne.

“We want to become a place that people consider their own little spot, where they feel comfortable and easy and well taken care of,” Tove wrote in an email to The Bee.

Pazza Notte Restaurant opening in September in Sacramento

Location: 1801 L St., Sacramento

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