Table of Contents
On June 20, A Tavola passed its building and health inspections. That evening, it opened its new room.
“I’m excited,” says Joe Carli, chef and owner of the Italian restaurant at 34 Church St. “Very excited!”
![](https://winchesternews.org/content/images/2024/07/phoWNatavola1_071224.jpg)
Carli has owned the business since January 2020, just before the pandemic hit. He kept the business open, selling a little of this and that to residents who weren’t able to buy items in the stores due to his connections.
He calls it “being neighborly.”
“The community has been amazing,” he says, of how many people came out to support A Tavola. “They reciprocated all that love back.”
Since moving in, Carli says it’s always been his dream to expand — since the day he signed his lease.
“I knew the only way to make it profitable and make it live up to all its potential was to expand,” he says.
In November 2023, Carli signed a new lease with his landlord.
“We immediately started doing the demo after we closed that same night,” he says.
![](https://winchesternews.org/content/images/2024/07/phoWNatavola3_071224.jpg)
As the doors closed and work began, passersby wondered just what Carli was doing inside. Turns out, he opened up the space next door, added a bar and 10 more seats plus new tables with eight more seats.
The new space will allow for full dinner at the bar, as well as drinks. Carli says plans are in the works to celebrate the grand re-opening, but not for a while.
In the meantime, the restaurant is now open Tuesdays to Thursdays, 5-9 p.m. and Fridays to Saturdays, 5 to 10 p.m.