New renderings: Portofino’s expanding to Uptown with fast-casual Italian restaurant

This will be Portofino’s fifth Charlotte-area location, with the other four on Park Road, Arboretum, east Charlotte and Indian Land.

Why it matters: With its classic “foldable” NY slice, this family-owned restaurant has some of the best pizzas in Charlotte, but owner Josh Coppola hasn’t opened another Portofino’s since its Indian Land location about five years ago.

Flashback: Coppola, who was born and raised in Italy, opened the first Portofino’s on Eastway Drive in 1997.

• “I remember like it was yesterday,” he tells me, adding that opening a restaurant in Uptown has always been a goal of his because this is the kind of restaurant he grew up going to. “We didn’t have servers or cars … just pizza and sandwiches and salads,” he says.

Details: The 2,500 square-foot space will have indoor seating, but unlike its other locations, Portofino’s Uptown will only have counter-service.

• It’ll be open for lunch and dinner with a menu consisting of pizza by the slice, Philly cheesesteaks, salads, panini and pasta dishes.

What’s next: Portofino’s Uptown will be located at 101 N. Tryon St. on the ground floor of One Independence Center, near the soon-to-open food hall Monarch Market. 

Go deeper: A new food hall called Monarch Market is coming to Uptown this fall