A rendering shows the front side of the planned Sam's Italian Deli location at Villaggio Shopping Center. Image via Nick Marziliano

For years, customers have asked Nick Marziliano the same question: when is Sam’s Italian Deli opening a second location?

The answer, he said, is coming — just not immediately.

Sam’s Italian Deli, a family-owned Fresno staple since 1980, is planning a major expansion in the Villaggio Shopping Center, where it will combine three adjacent spaces and one upstairs space into a single location, boasting over 7,000 square feet — space enough for the deli and market.

Sam’s second location will include the current Sierra Nut House in a move that was planned for 2025, but was delayed.

Joining deli, market

The new location will build on already existing patio space, expanding the outdoor seating footprint. Marziliano said the primary entrance will be to the rear of the building, where parking is more accessible. That entrance will also include a pickup window for online orders and deliveries. A mural will feature his parents and business founders, Sam and Angela Marziliano.

Marziliano is cautious about the timeline, with hopes for the building to be gutted and prepared for the deli to begin their renovation and construction by May 2026.

He hopes to have the store open by February or March 2027.

 

“We won’t get access to the building to start construction until May,” he said. “There’s some overlap in the leases.”

While the expansion to a second location has been years in the making, Marziliano said the timing has allowed him to carefully plan the future of the business.

Sierra Nut House charts next chapter

As Sam’s Italian Deli prepares for its next phase, another longtime Fresno business, embattled with leasing challenges and uncertainty of its own, is also reportedly preparing to transition. 

Sierra Nut House has signed a lease for a 6,679 square-foot location at 2003 W. Bullard Ave. in the Pavilion West shopping center, taking the home of the former High Sierra Grill, which has been vacant since the restaurant closed in September 2019.

The move marks the latest chapter in a multi-year transition for the business, following the closure of its original location at the corner of Sierra and Chestnut avenues after nearly 55 years in business.

Following the closure, plans briefly emerged for Sam’s to take over the former Sierra Nut House as early as late 2024; those plans, however, were put on hold after Sierra Nut House owner Joann Sorrenti was able to renegotiate a lease extension through the end of 2025.

In December 2024, Sorrenti opened a new location at 756 Pollasky Ave.

Messages left with Sorrenti seeking comment were not returned.

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See the full version of this story in the Jan. 2, 2026, print edition of The Business Journal. Subscribe today.