SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Fratelli La Bufala, a restaurant founded in Southern Italy two decades ago, has opened its second location in the United States in Scottsdale.
Leasing a 4,200-square-foot space in the Grove retail center in Scottsdale’s McCormick Ranch neighborhood, Fratelli La Bufala is bringing traditional Italian food and Neapolitan pizza to the Valley. The restaurant’s first U.S. location is in Miami, and it has more than 70 locations throughout Italy and in London, Dubai and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Fabio Sodano, the Fratelli La Bufala franchisee for the Scottsdale location, has been involved with the brand since the mid-2000s when he opened a handful of locations of the restaurant chain in Sicily. He eventually closed those stores, citing intimidation and harassment from the mafia.
Sodano relocated to Scottsdale to be near family in the late 2010s and started the ball moving on new Fratelli La Bufala location in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everything for this restaurant — the idea, the opportunity — was created during COVID,” Sodano told the Business Journal.
