Risata Cucina, a red-sauce-leaning Italian restaurant from chefs Brendan Denne and Bryan Gooding, is slated to open March 9 in downtown Robbinsdale. Taking over a longtime West Broadway storefront, the new spot is promising comforting classics, cocktails on tap, and a patio primed for warm-weather evenings. The owners say they want it to feel like a neighborhood standby, equally suited to casual weeknights and milestone celebrations.
Opening details
According to the Star Tribune, Risata Cucina will open March 9 at 4168 W. Broadway Ave. The restaurant's website lists the same address and describes the concept as "Modern Italian with an Old Soul."
The menu and the bar
The kitchen will focus on Italian-American favorites like chicken parmigiana, calamari, and rigatoni alla vodka, with most entrees coming in under $30 and a steak dinner as the only dish above that mark. The bar program is set to feature classic cocktails in the $13–$15 range, including Negronis and Aperol Spritzes on tap, plus a wine list with no bottle priced over $100 and nearly 50 bottles of amaro for lingering post-dinner conversations, according to the Star Tribune. "We're not riffing. We're just doing the best versions of what we do," co-owner Bryan Gooding told the paper.
From Nonna Rosa to Risata
The Risata space replaces Nonna Rosa's, the longtime Robbinsdale Italian restaurant that closed last June, as reported by CCX Media. For regulars who remember the former tenant, Risata is positioning itself as familiar and unfussy, while adding house-made touches such as flour sourced from a single farm in Italy.
Neighborhood context and what to expect
Owners say they plan to fire up the patio once the weather cooperates and hope the restaurant becomes a go-to for birthdays, rehearsal dinners, and everyday nights out. The opening arrives amid turnover and budget strain in Robbinsdale that local coverage has highlighted, making a stable new restaurant feel like a small but visible win for West Broadway, as documented in coverage of how the city reels from a $20 million blunder.
