After Fire & Delays, EHT’s A Touch of Italy Nears Reopening

A Touch of Italy, the popular restaurant at 6629 Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township, is getting closer to reopening.

I was recently invited to take a tour of the restaurant and see what the newly renovated A Touch of Italy will look like when it reopens.

The Beginnings of A Touch of Italy

The Palladino family moved to South Jersey from Queens, NY, in 1981, and opened A Touch of Italy Restaurant and Pizzeria in the Pleasantville Shopping Center.

In the early 90s, they moved the business to the Black Horse Pike, EHT location and became one of the most popular family restaurants in Atlantic County.

The restaurant was warm and inviting with the feel of an Italian café.

There was also a lounge with live music most nights, rooms for private parties, and a family-friendly trattoria with a wood-fired brick oven

People loved the food, and there was always a crowd.

New Owners at A Touch of Italy

The Palladino family sold the restaurant to partners Lou Freeman and Holly Pugh in mid-2022.

The new owners were taking reservations for their first Easter dinner at the restaurant in early April 2023 when a fire broke out in an old freezer late one night and did extensive smoke damage to A Touch of Italy.

As Lou Freeman told me the other day, what followed was a frustrating 2-year period of dealing with insurance claims, revised plans, and ensuring that older log cabin building met modern-day building codes.

Freeman, who also owns the Inn at Sugar Hill in Mays Landing and Bocca Coal Fired Bistro in Margate, thinks that the wait will be worth it for the newly remodeled A Touch of Italy.

The New Touch of Italy

Because of the fire, most of A Touch of Italy is new and improved.

Ceilings have been raised, a new, larger bar and stage area have replaced the old trattoria, and one room is being designed as a speakeasy.

The day I toured the restaurant, workers were putting the finishing touches on renovations to the building's distinctive stone exterior wall. There are plans to repoint the restaurant's beautiful fireplace.

The service bar was being set up, and workers were scurrying about doing a dozen different jobs. New freezers and kitchen equipment are being installed. A wine cellar is under construction.

There are plans for a covered outdoor patio area in the back with a bar and stage.

All new dishware, chairs and tables are stored close by, waiting to be put into service.

Much work has been done, and much more still needs doing before management can answer the one question everyone seems to have.

When is A Touch of Italy Reopening?

Lou Freeman says, after many delays, he expects a mid-September opening for A Touch of Italy.

And that popular A Touch of Italy menu? Will that be changing?

No, says Freeman. The A Touch of Italy menu will remain the same.