Willow Osteria opened over the weekend at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, a new shopping center in northwest Clovis. Willow Osteria photo

The most recent endeavor from a longtime Fresno culinary family opened over the weekend, bringing Italian cuisine to a growing shopping center in northwest Clovis.

Willow Osteria celebrated its grand opening at The Avenue, a new shopping center at Willow and Shepherd avenues on the Fresno-Clovis border.

A social media post late last week drew numerous comments from people eager to try the new restaurant.

The Avenue at Heritage Grove, developed by Heritage Development Co. — a partnership between the Parnagian and Ricchiuti families — began welcoming tenants last month with the relocation and grand reopening of Enzo’s Table, the anchor business owned by the Ricchiuti family.

Owned by Jimmy Pardini, who also owns The Annex Kitchen and Annesso Pizzeria, Willow Osteria is a full-service Italian restaurant specializing in regional pastas, wood-fired meats and a full bar with an extensive wine selection.

Pardini said the restaurant fulfills a longtime goal after repeated requests from customers to open a location farther east than his other establishments—The Annex Kitchen, which shares space with Pardini’s Catering and Event Center at Shaw Avenue and Van Ness Boulevard, and Annesso Pizzeria on Friant Road.

“I think that the community has been sort of asking us about opening a restaurant over there, and this is a project that I’ve always wanted to do,” Pardini said.

The corner, adjacent to The Row—a similar mixed-use development—adds to the area’s growing dining scene, anchored by Saizon, one of Fresno’s most popular new restaurants since opening in December 2022.