Before the August sale hearing, a Cranston Herald photographer found Café Itri sitting quiet, with weeds coming up and a chain across the parking lot entrance on Cranston Street. The restaurant had closed earlier in 2026 and was placed in court-appointed receivership. It became one of the most visible dark storefronts in Knightsville.
On the evening of October 13, the Cranston City Council voted to give it a new full liquor license. Every member voted yes. Minutes later, the same council approved a liquor license for a new business at 1674 Cranston Street, a few addresses from Itri's door at 1686. The people reopening this stretch are close neighbors, and each one's opening now depends on licensing paperwork, with a health license on every list.
The New Operator Runs the Bar Across the Street
GoLocalProv reported that the court-appointed receiver, attorney Richard Land, showed the property to more than a dozen potential buyers and ended up running a three-way bidding contest. GoLocalProv's account of the August 26 sale says the winner was Knightsville Investment Group, with a bid of $1.8 million. That price covered the real estate, the furnishings, the equipment and the Itri brand. In July, WJAR reported that the offer then on the table was around $1.65 million, subject to higher bids. The final sale came in about $150,000 above that.
The restaurant will be managed by Vincenzo Mazza. He owns Bar Lazio at 1669 Cranston Street, which GoLocalProv describes as functionally across the street from Itri. His connection to the building goes back further than his bar. He told GoLocalProv:
"My mother was born in Itri, and when she came to Rhode Island she lived in a three-decker which was located right where the parking lot is for Caffe Itri."
The restaurant's name comes from the same place. Itri is a small town near Italy's west coast, and in the 20th century many people from there settled in Knightsville. Mazza told GoLocalProv the group will keep the name and build on it. He said he hopes to bring back some of the old staff, and that refurbishing the space properly would take a few months. In August, he said he hoped to open for the holidays.
What the October 13 Vote Did and Didn't Settle
Approving the license put Itri on track for the holidays. It did not set an opening date. The application went to the City Council because it was over Cranston's cap on Class BV full liquor licenses. It lists hours of 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. The city's Safety Services & Licenses Committee recommended it on October 5, subject to four conditions:
- Tax collections sign-off
- A certificate of occupancy
- A victualing license
- A letter of good standing
At the meeting, as shown in the video of the October 13 session, the council president noted that Itri still needed its health license for the victualing permit. The motion passed on the condition that those documents be filed. Of the four conditions, the certificate of occupancy is the one tied most closely to the renovation Mazza described in August.
The October 5 committee agenda also lists a separate victualing application for Caffe Itri, with hours of 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day. That's narrower than the 11 a.m. liquor window. It suggests the kitchen may plan to start with evening service. Confirmed hours will come from the restaurant itself.
Two More Applications on the Same Agenda
The same October 5 committee agenda listed two other newcomers to Knightsville's stretch of Cranston Street. Together with Itri and Bar Lazio, they put four food-and-drink addresses within about 90 street numbers of each other:
| Address | Business | Status on the city record |
|---|---|---|
| 1669 Cranston St. | Bar Lazio | Operating; run by Itri's new manager |
| 1674 Cranston St. | Wicked Good Sausage Company | Class BVL liquor license approved Oct. 13 on conditions; victualing application filed for Mon–Sun, 10 a.m. to midnight |
| 1686 Cranston St. | Caffe Itri | Class BV liquor license approved Oct. 13 on conditions; victualing application filed for Mon–Sun, 4 to 11 p.m. |
| 1757 Cranston St. | Baked It Buns | Victualing application filed for Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., subject to a state health license |
Wicked Good Sausage Company started as a food truck. Chef Mike McAteer brought it onto WPRI's Rhode Show in April to make "The OG." It's a house-made sweet Italian sausage grilled with house-made pickled peppers and chunks of provolone, served on a torpedo roll. Its new liquor license was also over the city cap, so it needed a council vote too. The approval depends on its victualing license and a letter of good standing.
Baked It Buns is owner and baker Samantha Turnbull's cinnamon-roll business. In its October 1 dining roundup, Hey Rhody wrote that her pop-ups had people lining up for buns topped with strawberry cheesecake and cookie butter frosting. The magazine expected the Knightsville storefront to be open by the time readers saw the piece, with The OG, an iced bun, alongside Nutella banana and coffee mocha versions. The Baked It Buns link page still says "Storefront loading," so check the shop's Instagram before making a weekend trip.
The two newcomers are moving followings built at pop-ups and on a food truck into permanent Cranston Street addresses while Itri renovates. Their conditions differ from Itri's, but every list on the city record includes a health license.
Campanella's Came Back First
Itri's receivership had a companion case in Oaklawn. WJAR reported on May 15 that Campanella's and Itri Ristorante had both stopped serving customers and were under the same court-appointed receiver, who expected them to stay closed until they were sold.
Campanella's, at 930 Oaklawn Avenue, has been part of Cranston since August 1997. According to the receiver, its assets sold for $20,000 to the former landlord. In August, WJAR reported that the restaurant's previous owners had bought the assets and planned to reopen. The family held a grand reopening on September 16, according to WJAR, about four months after the May closure. Richard Campanella told the station there was nothing left inside, so the family bought all-new equipment.
The two sales were very different in size. Campanella's was a $20,000 asset sale that WJAR reported by July. Itri's was a $1.8 million sale that included the real estate, and it didn't close until August 26. Its new manager then described months of refurbishment. Campanella's has been serving lunch since mid-September, and Itri is still working through its license conditions.
Planning Around the Block This November
For anyone mapping out the next few weeks in Knightsville and nearby:
- Bar Lazio, 1669 Cranston St., is open now and run by the same operator who is reopening Itri across the street.
- Baked It Buns, 1757 Cranston St., filed for Thursday through Sunday hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check its Instagram for current status.
- Wicked Good Sausage Company, 1674 Cranston St., has its liquor approval in hand and is waiting on its victualing and health license.
- Campanella's, 930 Oaklawn Ave., lists hours of Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on its contact page. The page's wording about closed days is unclear, so call ahead on Sundays and Mondays.
- Cranston's Veterans Day Parade steps off Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. The city's announcement gives the route from Doric Avenue to Rolfe Square, with a ceremony at the Rolfe Square cannon memorial right after.
Mazza's August target for Caffe Itri is still the holidays. The council approved its liquor license subject to documents that include a certificate of occupancy and a health license.
At The Blackstone Team, we track changes like Itri's reopening because they shape what a Cranston Street address means to the people who live near it. If you'd like a Cranston-focused read on your own block, schedule a private market consultation.
