Giada De Laurentiis Wants To Open a Nationwide Pasta Chain

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis already has her eponymous restaurant at The Cromwell, a first for her, and plans to open a quick-service location at Caesars Palace in 2018. Now comes world that the star of Giada at Home is in the "very, very early stages" of launching fast-casual chain of restaurants focusing on past.

Pop Sugar reports that De Laurentiis plans to host pop-up dinners, first in New York City, to gather feedback on the idea.

“I've been wanting to do a fast-casual for forever… I’ve learned from having a restaurant in Vegas that people love pasta and they love pasta at all different price points, to be honest,” she tells the website.

At Caesars Palace, De Laurentiis claims that her more casual Pronto by Giada will take over the still operational Payard Patisserie & Bistro, located opposite Rao’s and the Bacchanal Buffet. Payard is currently only accepting reservations through Saturday, Oct. 7.

Earlier this summer, she explained to New York’s Daily News, “We’re on our third year [in Vegas] and I wanted to do something a little more casual for anybody who can't do the fine dining thing, sort of as an introduction to my food, so I think this will be a really great opportunity to do that.”

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