Award-winning Catullo’s Italian is closing its Nocatee Town Center restaurant, three years after brothers Carl and Dave Catullo expanded their popular Jacksonville restaurant to St. Johns County.
In a Facebook post on Monday, June 15, the Catullos announced the restaurant’s pending closure.
“It is with great sadness that we unfortunately have to announce the closing of our Nocatee location,” they wrote. “We have sold the space to another restaurant group, and our final day of operation will be June 25th, unless we run out of food or staff prior to that date.”
The Catullos opened the restaurant in July 2023 at 100 Marketside Ave., Suite 305, at the Publix-anchored retail center home to Chophouse at Nocatee, M Shack, Treylor Park Restaurant, South Kitchen, First Watch, Salata and more.
Catullo’s original restaurant, which debuted in 2019, remains open at 1650-2 San Pablo Road S. in the Village Shoppes of San Pablo.
Known for its fresh-from-scratch Italian cuisine using authentic family recipes, Catullo’s menu includes favorites ravioli, tortellini, lasagna and pappardelle as well as Gnocchi Catullo, described as “fluffy little potato pasta pillows, cooked in our fresh sage and Calabrian chili alfredo sauce”; Chicken Capricciosa, described as the “closest thing you’re gonna get to anything “Parm” here!”; and Pear Fiocchi, made with egg pasta filled with fresh pear along with three kinds of Italian cheese topped with a cream sauce including caramelized pear, Gorgonzola and goat cheese and fried Prosciutto di Carpegna.
The Nocatee location opened just months after Catullo’s earned multiple accolades from Yelp.
In June 2022, Yelp ranked Catullo’s No. 10 in its first guide of the top 100 restaurants in Florida. And in January 2023, Yelp named the restaurant to its list of Top 100 U.S. Restaurants for 2023, ranking it No. 63.
In their social media post announcing the decision to close, the Catullos thanked their staff and guests.
“We want to first and foremost thank our staff who we consider family, followed by the amazing patrons we’ve met along the way. We’d hoped to be here serving you for many years to come, but it just wasn’t in the cards,” the Catullos wrote. “Hopefully you’ll come visit us before our last day! We look forward to seeing you at our San Pablo location in the near future.”
Catullo’s is open Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.
Gary T. Mills is the deputy managing editor at The Florida Times-Union. He has led the newspaper’s dining coverage since 2010.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: After nearly 3 years, Catullo’s Italian closing Nocatee restaurant
Reporting by Gary T. Mills, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gary T. Mills, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
