Cleveland, Ohio Local News

First Look: Antica Italian Restaurant, Opening in Beachwood on March 20

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Douglas Trattner

Antica Italian opens in Beachwood on March 20.

Hecks just celebrated its one-year anniversary in Beachwood. In a week, that restaurant will be joined by Antica Italian Restaurant (3355 Richmond Rd., 216-831-1004), which is preparing to open in the adjacent space that formerly was home to Red and Cut 151. When it opens on March 20, it will become the second Antica, the first of which opened in Avon back in 2021.

Owner Fadi Daoud said it was the natural choice for the attractive 100-seat restaurant.

“I think the space kind of lends itself perfectly to cozy Italian, casual-fine dining,” Daoud explains. “We just kind of tied them together.”

A gentle renovation warmed up the previously contemporary interior, making it more in line with the original.

Since opening, Antica has not only built a local following for its Italian cuisine, but also has become somewhat of a destination restaurant for those outside the immediate area.

“We’ve made really good progress at Antica in Avon,” the owner adds. “It’s everybody’s favorite now; it’s the place to be on that side of town.”

Diners in Beachwood can look forward to a very similar menu, with the exception of a few more steak and seafood options. Everything from the pizza and pasta dough to the tiramisu is made in house. Appetizers include arancini, Kobe meatballs, shrimp scampi and fried calamari. A roster of soups and salads joins a half dozen thin, crisp pizzas, including the signature chicken parmesan “pizza.”

“Originally, we didn’t want to put chicken parmesan on the menu, but everybody wants chicken parm so we said, let’s do something different,” Daoud explains.

The popular dish swaps the customary dough for a shell made from seasoned ground chicken, which is pressed, shaped and deep fried. It is then topped with tomatoes, cheese and greens.

Homemade ravioli is filled with braised short ribs and topped with parmesan cream sauce; rigatoni arrives in a spicy vodka cream sauce; and a bounty of shellfish is tossed with linguini in a lemon and garlic white wine sauce. In the big-plate department there is veal piccata, roasted branzino, grilled lamb chops, and bistecca alla Fiorentina.

To finish, there’s tiramisu, cannoli and Nutella panna cotta.

Soon, the restaurant will begin serving on the 60-seat patio, which it shares with Hecks.

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