A taste of Italy – and more – is coming to Collierville’s town square. Cafe Zopita’s on the Square Eatery is slated to open this spring at 114 North Main.
“The idea is to have food ready for you to pick up and take home and cook it,” said owner/operator Anna Palazola.
She also will have seating for 26 people. “Every day – like the day I make lasagna – I’ll have a hot plate for lunch.”
Palazola will feature a variety of food. “I’ll have a little bit of everything.”
But she’ll feature Italian food. “I spent all my summers in Italy growing up. My dad was Italian. We’re going to use as much as we can fresh produce, olive oil, no fillers.”
“I want to have specialty sandwiches, salads and good coffee. It’ll be a very limited menu. Everyday I’ll have a new soup. And homemade pastas.”
She also will carry baked goods, including hot croissants, pastries, cookies and “all kinds of cakes.”
Palazola named the restaurant after her “Italian grandmother Anna Zopita.”
The restaurant, which is slated to be open from 9 to 5 p.m., is at the site of the former bistro Toasted.
Asked why she decided to open a restaurant, Palazola, who has been in the real estate business for 20 years, said she and her husband were talking and she decided to “do something new. I love to cook.”
Her son, Pepe, was responsible in a way for leading her to the restaurant site. Pepe wanted to go to Hewlett and Dunn Boot & Jean Co. to get some boots. “We drove by and I saw this ‘For Rent’ sign. I said, ‘This is what we need.’”
And, she said, Collierville’s town square is “such a charming square.”
