Locals to bring ‘Little Italy with a modern twist’ to Moses Lake
Rhonda and Dino Cacchiotti stand next to the foundation of their new venture ENZO Italian Restaurant, which should be open by June 2022 and will feature “a traditional Italian menu,” Dino Cacchiotti said.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — It’s official — Moses Lake is finally getting an Italian restaurant.
Orthodontist Dino Cacchiotti broke ground on what will become ENZO Italian Restaurant at 1345 S. Pioneer Way, formerly a vacant lot between Feller Orthodontics and Tacos Mi Rancho and in front of Cacchiotti’s own Moses Lake clinic.
“My wife Rhonda and I have been envisioning this restaurant for several years,” Cacchiotti said. “Our goal is to have a budget conscious but delicious traditional Italian menu.”
The 6,000-square-foot restaurant, which is expected to be ready to open in June 2022, will be managed by B.J. Garbe, a former professional baseball player and longtime Moses Lake restaurateur and hospitality manager.
“We’re thinking Little Italy with a modern twist,” Garbe said. “We want it to be upscale but affordable.”
Garbe said he has been working with Cacchiotti on planning the new restaurant for more than a year, including some delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s taken us a long time to get the architecture right, the design and the menu development, and that’s just for starters,” Garbe said. “We wanted to make sure we’re creating a product that’s amazing for our customers.”
Cacchiotti said the menu will feature some family recipes, such as his wife’s “amazing spaghetti and meatballs and clam linguini,” while the atmosphere will be family and large-group-friendly, combined with a lounge that has a “swanky vibe.”
“We were both fans of dining out, especially in non-chain restaurants. We felt that Moses Lake would benefit from an Italian restaurant, so we decided to give it a go,” Cacchiotti said.
Cacchiotti said there will also be some additional retail and commercial space next to ENZO, which he said is a common Italian name he and his wife have always liked.
But he also said he’s not planning on getting out of the business of straightening teeth and fixing smiles any time soon.
“We’ve been in Moses Lake over 30 years and love it here,” he said. “I love my career as an orthodontist and won’t be giving that up any time soon.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.