'North Italia' Restaurant Celebrates Diablo Valley Site With Festive Debut

WALNUT CREEK, CA — An Italian-inspired restaurant is ready to open its first Bay Area restaurant March 25, planting a 200-seat outpost in Plaza Escuela and adding another contender to a city with a fair share of Italian dining options.

The Arizona-based chain built an 8,500-square-foot space at 1179 Locust St., where chefs will prepare pasta and pizza in a fully open kitchen serving lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch.

The restaurant will kick off opening day with a slate of high-energy attractions designed to draw crowds. Organizers will host a live DJ, set up a vintage Vespa photo station, and install a custom flower wall backdrop from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., pairing the festivities with a menu centered on scratch-made Italian fare.

The menu will feature dishes such as White Truffle Garlic Bread, Bolognese, Spicy Rigatoni Vodka, and Sunday Night Lasagna, alongside brunch offerings like Strawberries & Cream French Toast.

North Italia will also pledge 10 percent of opening day sales to White Pony Express, which redistributes surplus food to residents in need across the region.

With its debut, North Italia will increase Walnut Creek’s roster of Italian-inspired restaurants to roughly 15, intensifying competition in one of the East Bay’s most crowded dining categories while betting that atmosphere, scale, and spectacle will set it apart.

MORE: Walnut Creek Opens Arms To Italian Restaurant No. 15