Sugo’s Spaghetteria (13386 Metcalf Avenue, Overland Park) and Intorno (801 Massachusetts, Lawrence) — a pair of Italian restaurants with St. Louis influences — have closed.
Sugo’s was St. Louis restaurateur Michael Del Pietro’s first foray into the Kansas City marketplace and an extension of a concept that’s proven popular in St. Louis and Columbia (where it’s known as Babbo’s). The casual spot from the third-generation restaurateur featured fresh pasta and Neopolitan-style pizza. Sugo’s opened in June 2012, but never caught on as Del Pietro explained to St. Louis magazine.
“Overland Park was much different than I originally thought,” Del Pietro told the magazine’s Relish blog. “More conservative and more frugal. Those folks love their barbeque, but Italian food is a different world for them. Lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs were fine, but that was it,” he added, before stating the obvious. “[It’s] completely different than here.”
Intorno opened in December 2012 when chef Jim Vaughn, a St. Louis native, and his wife Leslie took over the former Esquina space. Vaughn was previously a chef at Charlie Gitto’s, a staple of the St. Louis Italian neighborhood known as “The Hill.” Firmly entrenched in the St. Louis canon, Intorno dished up chicken spiedini and toasted ravioli.
