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TAMPA - The newest Italian restaurant on the block will serve up its first plate of pasta on March 1.
Johnny Carino's Country Italian chain is joining dozens of competitors with a new $3-million location along busy North Dale Mabry Highway at the Cypress Street intersection.
Undergoing four ownership changes, a Rio Bravo Mexican restaurant occupied the northwest comer since the early '90s before going out of business last year.
A locally based Johnny Carino's franchisee, meanwhile, was looking for expansion opportunities in the Tampa Bay area. Al Dente LLC currently owns and operates two Johnny Carino's restaurants in Brooksville and Sarasota.
Dale Mabry "is a great restaurant location," said Al Dente President Franklin Carson. "Rio Bravo had decided to start closing down this market for their company. We were in the right place at the right time, and we were able to make a...