WEST FARGO — Since Pat Lipsiea and Gabby Metzger
opened the doors of Ziti’s Italian American in early July,
the restaurant has been a runaway success.
Their reservation list fills quickly for the eatery inside the Lights’ development. They’ve attracted a devoted roster of regulars. And people seem to like their
family-friendly atmosphere and emphasis on fresh, flavorful dishes
like Ziti al Rosa.
But when it comes to the eatery’s layout, the partners feel like they’ve hit a wall.
Literally.
Patrons who enter the restaurant are greeted immediately by a long expanse of wall, which forces them to turn a hard left and walk down a narrow corridor to a tiny waiting area.
It’s only when customers reach the end of that hallway that they see Ziti’s attractive dining room, complete with old world-style wooden booths, family photos everywhere and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Lights courtyard
/MIDCO Stage at Essentia Health Plaza.
An awkwardly placed hallway isn’t the first impression they’d like to make. “A feng shui facilitator, they’d come in with holy water,” jokes Lipsiea. “It would be nice to have a little more of a wow factor when you first walk in.”
And so earlier last week, they published a post to Ziti’s Facebook that showed Lipsiea and Metzger standing in an empty space with the caption: “What in the frozen heck are we up to now?”
The post racked up over 370 likes, with many followers correctly guessing the news: expansion.
Drift Clothing,
Ziti’s former next-door neighbor to the south, has moved its headquarters/pop-up space, making it possible for the couple to lease that estimated 900 to 1,000 square feet of space.
That extra room will help alleviate three of Ziti’s most pressing design challenges: the lack of seating area for people awaiting tables and the shortage of private dining for larger parties.
And then there’s the Great Wall of Ziti’s. The north-facing entryway for the former Drift space will become the restaurant’s main entryway, which will circumvent the existing, east-facing entry completely.
All of the dry storage will be moved from the restaurant’s small kitchen to the hallway, where shelves of canned tomatoes, tins of olive oil and bags of imported pasta will be displayed by the windows along that corridor. This will help create a market-like vibe as diners approach the new north entrance.
The removal of the dry storage will allow them to reimagine the kitchen area and add components they couldn’t incorporate previously, like a second prep table. “That would be a game-changer for us,” Lipsiea says.
The old Drift space will become the new lobby. The host station will be accompanied by a small retail area, where they’ll sell some of their imported dry pastas and specialties like the hot honey that Metzger makes for their charcuterie boards.
Benches and coffee tables will create a roomier, more comfortable waiting area for diners.
About 40% of the new area will be dedicated to a private dining room, Lipsiea says. This space, which can be closed off by doors, will accommodate 18 to 24 people and feature audiovisual equipment for meetings.
Lipsiea says this will serve customers who would like a designated space for business lunches, family gatherings or small holiday parties.
“As a business owner, when someone is trying to spend money with you, it’s tough to say no, and that’s probably the thing we’ve had to say no to the most,” he says. “With this, we feel confident we’ll be able to do this as well as anybody.”
The lobby/private dining area will be connected to Ziti’s current dining area through the southeast corner of the restaurant, which currently houses the waiting area.
“This will allow us to have a little bit more of a flow,” Lipsiea says.
Ziti’s Italian Restaurant is pictured on Friday, June 27, 2025, at The Lights in West Fargo.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
While Ziti’s owners are excited about the improvement, they don’t expect it to happen overnight.
He estimates that the renovation could be done as soon as March, although it could extend into April.
For now, the duo remains grateful that the restaurant they dared to open has grown to the point that expansion is possible.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we took this leap and that people are waiting in line to eat our food and hang out in our restaurant,” Lipsiea says. “It’s just awesome and we’re extraordinarily grateful.”
Ziti’s is located at 3150 Sheyenne St., Suite 170, in The Lights development in West Fargo.
For 35 years, Tammy Swift has shared all stages of her life through a weekly personal column. Her first “real world” job involved founding and running the Bismarck Tribune’s Dickinson bureau from her apartment. She has worked at The Forum four different times, during which she’s produced everything from food stories and movie reviews to breaking news and business stories. Her work has won awards from the Minnesota and North Dakota Newspaper Associations, the Society for Professional Journalists and the Dakotas Associated Press Managing Editors News Contest. As a business reporter, she gravitates toward personality profiles, cottage industry stories, small-town business features or anything quirky. She can be reached at tswift@forumcomm.com.
Dining and Cooking