After sitting vacant for the last year and a half, the building that last housed Zest Spirited Dining (4117 N. 16th St., north of Indian School) will soon become Gasper's Pizzeria, an Italian restaurant specializing in traditional Neapolitan-style pizza, and rustic southern Italian cuisine.
Owner Gasper Manno, who co-founded Sapori D'Italia restaurant in Fountain Hills, says he plans to open by mid-June.
Manno says he's renovating the place to have a contemporary, casual vibe, with a brand-new, full-service bar, and a pizza bar where you can sit and watch him make pizzas. His wife Maria will make all of the desserts, and sons David and Jonathan will lend a hand in the business, too.
"I want it to be a friendly family atmosphere, as if guests were eating at my own home," he says.
The menu will be limited to handmade pizzas, salads, pastas, and rustic antipasto dishes, and will have a "very affordable" price point.
