Since Bowling Green’s Olive Garden restaurant closed nearly six years ago, area consumers have been somewhat starved for Italian dining.

&#8220We have people who regularly say, ‘I wish you had more Italian restaurants,’ and I don’t know why we don’t,” said Vicki Fitch, director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

When people ask for Italian food, she refers them to downtown Bosnian-owned restaurants, such as Verdi and Brickyard Cafe.

&#8220You can get somewhat of an Italian meal, but not everyone thinks of that initially,” Fitch said.

That will begin to change in the spring – in Franklin, the mom-and-pop Maggio’s Italian Grill is set to open, according to owner Mazen Ghazi, who came to the United States in 1980; he now resides in Westmoreland, Tenn.

The roughly 1,200-square-foot restaurant will occupy a former print shop on the square.

On a chilly afternoon, Ghazi gave a glimpse of Maggio’s planned cuisine and concept – over a gourmet lunch at Franklin’s Brickyard Cafe.

&#8220My food is totally different (than Brickyard’s),” he said, noting there’s room for both in Franklin. &#8220Mine is authentic Italian.”

Ghazi, 49, who has an Italian mother and a Grecian father, said he loves the South’s family-friendly atmosphere, and wonders why Italian restaurants don’t adorn southcentral Kentucky’s hills.

&#8220A lot of people want authentic Italian food. Why is there a shortage?” asked Ghazi, the father of five children.

At Maggio’s, Greek appetizers, like stuffed grape leaves – &#8220dolma” – and steak, chicken, pork and beef kebobs will greet guests, along with Mediterranean ones: Cicilian scampi, roasted eggplant and garbanzo dip. Take-out orders and Monday night specials are on the agenda, too.

Smoked turkey panini sandwiches, homemade lasagna, saffrone seafood fettucine and Roman short ribs marinated with Italian wine sauce will also dot the menu.

&#8220We are big on quality of food, not quantity,” Ghazi said.

If all goes well in Franklin – this will be his first venture into the restaurant business – Ghazi said he wants to eventually open another in Bowling Green.

Stacy Roof, president of the Kentucky Restaurant Association, said Italian-eating options exist in most of Kentucky’s larger cities, although her association hasn’t researched the density in certain areas.

&#8220I don’t think there’s a lot of Italian people living in and around Bowling Green necessarily,” Roof added.

That number diminished on Sunday when Mario Rizzitiello, owner of Mario’s in Cave City, passed away. Rizzitiello, who was born in Italy, operated his authentic Italian restaurant for about two decades before it closed last summer when his health began to fail, according to Cave City Clerk Pam Hunt, who fondly remembers him and his food.

She said his fresh ingredients and homemade entrees drew clients from Nashville and Louisville.

&#8220You wouldn’t want to eat anywhere else if you ever ate at Mario’s,” Hunt said. &#8220He always had a happy, optimistic attitude.”

Optimistic isn’t the word to describe a potential Olive Garden return – spokeswoman Mara Frazier said she doesn’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.

&#8220It just has to be the right time for us, the right time for the community,” Frazier said.

That leaves it up to non-chains in southcentral Kentucky’s Italian market, starting with Maggio’s in Franklin.

Jill Broderson, assistant director of the Franklin-Simpson Renaissance, said Ghazi has picked out an awning style and a light terra cotta paint to coat the outside of Maggio’s &#8220that will flow right into what he’s doing on the inside” to create an &#8220intimate setting.” She also said he has good ideas for the interior once the plumbing and electrical work is done.

After his Brickyard lunch, Ghazi – dressed in overalls and work goggles – plugged away at his to-do list.

&#8220You really feel the love here,” he said. &#8220Your neighbors really watch out for you.”