Taste Italian Kitchen is opening a second location in Ridgeland, Mississippi, four years after launching its original restaurant in Starkville.
The new location will open in the former Enzo Osteria space at 970 Highland Colony Parkway, which closed in September 2024.
“We just had such large success in Starkville, we just wanted to test the waters in a larger market,” Executive Chef Shannon Lindell told What Now Memphis. “We have a lot of customers come up here for football games and things at Mississippi State and it was the right building, the right time and just everything aligned.”
The Ridgeland restaurant will offer a similar base menu to the original, though Lindell said specials may vary between locations. Guests can expect imported Italian pasta, hand-tossed pizza and a curated selection of Italian wines.
While the menu focuses on Italian cuisine, Lindell said the “dark horse dish” is the pork chop—it’s their most popular item, and customers “just love it.”
Taste Italian Kitchen originally planned to open last year but faced delays due to building issues. Now, the team is set for a grand opening Aug. 5.
“It’s just exciting to develop new relationships with new customers and expose people to our product that haven’t seen it before,” Lindell said. “We’re just excited to hit the ground running and really get cooking.”
