Gato Transforms into GiGi’s Italian Kitchen this August | What Now Atlanta

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Gato will become Gigi’s Italian Kitchen full-time in August. Eric Brooks and Jacob Armando, owners and chefs of Gigi’s Italian Kitchen & Restaurant, will take over the lease and have a permanent address at 1660 McClendon Avenue NE.

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“Well, for the most part, we’re keeping our service style and format the same. We’re gonna expand our programs so we’ll be doing a little bit more there,” Brooks said.

He says, “What really drew us to GiGi’s in the first place is the fact that it’s one of the last pieces of old Atlanta that has so much charm and character we don’t want to take away from. We just want to make the space more efficient.”

GiGi’s will close as a Po-up on July 12th, and Gato’s last dinner service will be‌ ‌on‌‌ ‌‌Saturday,‌‌ ‌‌July‌‌ ‌‌23. ‌After that, the space will close for a few weeks for some light remodeling before reopening as Gigi’s‌ ‌in‌ ‌early August. “We want to redo the floors in the kitchen and slap some paint on the walls. We really like the space as it is right now, so we don’t want to change it that much. But there will be a new sign out front with our name on it,” Brooks said.

The two restaurants‌ ‌began‌ ‌collaborating‌ ‌on‌ ‌pop-ups‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌summer‌ ‌of‌ ‌2021. ‌After they realized how popular the idea was, they decided to make it ‌a‌ ‌regular‌ ‌occurrence‌ ‌and will‌ ‌continue‌ ‌to host‌ ‌pop-ups‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌location.

Nicholas Stinson, owner of Gato, will continue to serve as a consultant after stepping down as owner. 

Once‌ ‌the restaurant re-opens, Gigi’s will be open for business from 5-10 p.m., Friday through Tuesday, expanding its current rotation to four days. Gigi’s menu will remain, and guests will still enjoy the same Caesar salad, Beef Carpaccio, Chicken Marsala, Pistachio Gelato, and Limoncello Highball. Brooks says the caviar dish will always be on the menu and vegetables will rotate seasonally. “We’re gonna expand the beverage menu just a little bit because we’ll have more space for storage,” Brooks told What Now Atlanta.