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The basics:
Maggiano’s hires Michelin-starred chef Anthony Amoroso as VP of innovation and growth
Chain upgrades core Italian dishes and launches a gluten-free menu
Brinker, owner of the brand, aims to revive traffic with premium ingredients and refreshed service
Amoroso draws on New Jersey Italian roots to elevate family-style dining
When Maggiano’s Little Italy decided to shake up its dining experience a bit, the Brinker International-owned restaurant chain called a Jersey City-born Italian American to spearhead the effort.
After being tapped in August 2024 as Maggiano’s inaugural vice president of innovation and growth, Michelin-starred chef Anthony Amoroso is focusing on making the brand a destination for high-end – yet accessible – family-style dining.
Under the guidance of Amoroso, Maggiano’s has added premium ingredients and techniques to help refine several signature dishes, such as eggplant parmesan, baked ziti, lasagna, spaghetti & meatballs, beef stuffed shells, chicken parmesan and fettucine alfredo.
Additionally, Maggiano’s overhauled its cocktail menu for the first time in seven years. It also debuted a refreshed family-style service that includes enhanced portion sizes and expanded entrée selections for parties of four diners or more. And the chain just rolled out a new chef-crafted gluten-free menu – complete with gluten-free fusilli pasta, fettucine alfredo, chicken parmesan and rigatoni.
Besides appealing to Maggiano’s regulars, Amoroso is confident the dishes can even pass a taste test during a traditional Sunday dinner back home in New Jersey.
“If you do that food in New Jersey, you’re putting yourself out there. Because almost every person grows up in a neighborhood where it exists and or has a friend that exists in their house on a Sunday,” Amoroso said. “So, everybody has an amazing reference point for a meatball, a pomodoro or a Sunday sauce. So, I think if you are going to get into that arena of New Jersey and do that food, you better be pretty sure that you can execute. And I think we do.”
Something special
Founded 34 years ago in Chicago, Maggiano’s is known for being a polished-casual restaurant that combines Italian-American favorites with a slightly upscale, nostalgic atmosphere. Thanks to its generous portions of dishes like chicken parmesan, lasagna and baked ziti and private rooms, Maggiano’s is a popular – but affordable – place for special occasions.
Since Brinker acquired the business in 1995, Maggiano’s has grown from four locations to more than 50 spots nationwide. Within New Jersey, Maggiano’s is found in Bridgewater, Cherry Hill and Hackensack.
Maggiano’s new “The Grand” chicken parmesan features a hand-breaded chicken breast topped with fresh mozzarella, basil and freshly grated parmesan. It’s served alongside Maggiano’s signature Rigatoni Marinara. – PROVIDED BY MAGGIANO’S
After executing a turnaround of its Chili’s Grill & Bar chain to prioritize core favorites, hospitality and simplified operations, Brinker decided to apply lessons learned from that experience to help Maggiano’s level up.
Although same-store sales were up, much of Maggiano’s growth came from higher prices rather than guest visits. In hopes of modernizing the concept, Brinker initiated a “Back to Maggiano’s” campaign in late 2023. As part of an effort to rebuild traffic and brand strength, the chain revamped its menu with higher-end ingredients, streamlined kitchen processes, refreshed ambiance and service, and scaled back promotions.
Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman recently cautioned that it may take several quarters to see sustained improvement at Maggiano’s — noting that the Chili’s rebound took about three years.
Maggiano’s latest quarter showed a 6.4% drop in same-restaurant sales and revenue falling to about $99 million, down from the prior year. The brand also posted a $4.1 million operating loss, compared with a profit last year. Brinker said the weakness stemmed from lower traffic, a softer menu mix and cost pressures that continue to challenge the turnaround.
‘Fortunate to be where I’m from’
Amoroso
When Maggiano’s announced Amoroso as its vice president of innovation and growth last fall, the brand said it represented “a pivotal moment in our journey.” It also praised Amoroso’s “extraordinary creativity, meticulous precision and unwavering passion for culinary excellence” as qualities that will enable Maggiano’s to “push the boundaries of flavor and innovation, delivering a dining experience unlike any other that will delight and inspire our guests.”
In taking on the position, Amoroso said he was excited “to help shape this next era of the brand, building upon its rich heritage and commitment to delivering exceptional dining experiences.”
“Maggiano’s has long been synonymous with classic Italian-American dining, offering cocktails, wine, dishes and experiences that foster unforgettable memories for our guests. I’m excited to partner with the team, push the envelope and ultimately, set a new standard,” he said.
Growing up in Jersey City, Amoroso always enjoyed helping his mother and grandmother in the kitchen — especially for Sunday family dinners. At the age of 18, he decided to become a chef and enrolled in the Culinary Arts Institute at Hudson County Community College.
“I guess naively I went like, ‘Sure, I’ll sign up for culinary school kind of thing.’ I got to school, got a uniform, got tools and started to get some training and was like, ‘I think I really enjoy this,’” he said. “And I came to realize it’s something I was really passionate about, and it just kind of took off from there. I’ll say I got lucky. I don’t know that everybody has that experience.
“So then from that point forward, your goal is always to go work in New York City, which is eventually what I got to go do. I would say that that is probably some of the best training ground anybody could ever get in hospitality; just being the dynamic and competitive restaurant city that New York City is. So, I think I was fortunate to be where I’m from and have that kind of be my backyard and have that so accessible to me.”
From chef to exec
After graduating from the two-year program, Amoroso got his start at the Hilton at Short Hills and the now closed Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center.
Amoroso went on to work as sous chef and chef de cuisine at Rick Moonen’s Oceana in New York, then helped the famed chef open Branzini (now shuttered) and later helmed rm seafood. In 2003, he left New York for Las Vegas to work with Michael White at Fiamma Trattoria and Bar at the MGM Grand.
Two years later, he became executive chef at Michael Mina’s namesake restaurant at the Bellagio. Under his leadership, the restaurant earned two Michelin Stars. While there, he competed on Iron Chef America and beat Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in a 2009 battle featuring branzino.
Amoroso then returned to New Jersey and took over the kitchen at Mina’s SeaBlue at the Borgata in Atlantic City until that closed in 2011.
From there, Amoroso advanced to executive chef roles at BR Guest Hospitality, Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and MGM Resorts International. The roles paved the way for him to move into executive positions overseeing food and beverage, first at Aria and then at MGM.
Amoroso said it took some adjusting as he transitioned from chef to executive.
“At a single restaurant, everybody’s in front of you every day. You’re highly influential in that way. I think chef in the kitchen is kind of like a general and leads the team and the team sees him or her every day,” he said.
“Once you step out of that into something a little bit larger, the learning curve is how do you work through others? How do you effectively communicate to everybody what the vision is and how do you ensure that everybody’s doing that? That becomes your biggest challenge. You’re not going to be in whatever the restaurant is every day. So, learning the skill of working through others – I think that is the biggest challenge,” he explained.
‘Kid from New Jersey’
In his most recent job before Maggiano’s, Amoroso was a vice president of food and beverage development for MGM Resorts’ 17 properties worldwide.
“I had relocated from Vegas to Texas. I’d already been living in Texas and air commuting to Vegas. At the time, I was on the development team. So, I’m doing Vegas, there’s a project going on in Japan and Dubai. And you’re just on the road, traveling all the time … It’s exhausting. At some point, for a lot of reasons, you put your head up and go like, ‘Man, I can’t keep this going.’”
I’m an Italian American kid from New Jersey. I grew up eating this food as my favorite thing in the world.
– Anthony Amoroso, Maggiano’s VP of innovation and growth
Amoroso recalled connecting with a friend who worked at Brinker to inquire about opportunities at the company.
“I told him ‘Maggiano’s would be my dream job.’ And he said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m an Italian American kid from New Jersey. I grew up eating this food as my favorite thing in the world. If I could ever pivot to working on just one thing, that would be the one thing I’d want to work on. And I think you all do it better than just about anybody in the industry, and you do it at a scale that I feel comfortable at,’” Amoroso said.
“As luck has it … the opportunity presented itself and I think the company was gracious enough to offer me the opportunity to do something that I kind of felt would be a natural for me,” he said.
A passion for Italian fare
“Having a passion for that food, having a passion for that place and that being the roots for my Italian American family all came from southern Italy. I felt like it was a great opportunity for me to take all of that education, all that learning from all of the years of working all these other concepts and trying to help apply some of that to Italian-American food,” he said.
“For us, it’s all about abundance, which speaks to family style and what you grew up experiencing at grandma’s house on a Sunday,” he said. “Having that experience and that point of view and perspective to the brand is something that I like to think I bring … And then there are techniques and there are opportunities to take skills from your learnings and apply it to that to just make that product the best it can be and be more consistent.”
Maggiano’s spaghetti and meat sauce – PROVIDED BY MAGGIANO’S
As vice president of innovation and growth, Amoroso says he collaborates with Maggiano’s culinary directors and corporate chefs to “work on what the future of the brand will look like.” Besides working in the chain’s Dallas test kitchen, Amoroso’s role takes him out to visit current restaurants and also with Maggiano’s leasing team to scout potential new sites.
When Amoroso arrived at Maggiano’s, he set out to find opportunities “to take everything that we do really well and make them as best as they can be.”
“I think restaurants not only win on being great, but they win on being great consistently. So, it’s anything you can bring to the table that is going to help contribute to that consistency. And a lot of that for us is training and being very intentional about what we do when we do it,” he said.
Across the chain, Amoroso said there’s “a very much so hands-on mentality” focused on getting “the best outcomes.”
“Most of the senior leadership in our company, they are in restaurants on a weekly basis, speaking to the team, actually taking notes, distilling notes, coming back to the corporate office with to-dos, getting those things done for the operator, getting that information back to them and following up. It’s a lot more hands-on and in person than I think anybody from the outside looking in would believe. I can’t speak for other brands, I can only speak for us, but that’s how we operate,” he said.
A shift in expectations
In recent years, Amoroso said he’s noted a “real shift in what guests value and expect from their dining experiences.”
“Today’s consumers are much more intentional when making their dining plans. They want quality, transparency and authenticity. They’re drawn to fresh ingredients, bold flavors, and dishes that feel handcrafted and special, even in a casual dining setting. At the same time, convenience has become essential — people want the flexibility to enjoy a restaurant-quality meal however it fits their lifestyle, whether that’s dining in or enjoying at home,” he said.
What hasn’t changed is Maggiano’s “commitment to genuine hospitality and that sense of abundance and care that makes every meal feel like a special occasion,” he said, adding, “That’s still what today’s guests crave most — real connection, real food and a memorable experience.”
Maggiano’s just rolled out a new chef-crafted gluten-free menu – complete with gluten-free fusilli pasta, fettucine alfredo, chicken parmesan and rigatoni. – PROVIDED BY MAGGIANO’S
According to Amoroso, Maggiano’s has drilled down on determining what’s considered a core menu item. In a bid to reduce menu complexity, the brand eliminated some dishes and prep steps so it could better focus on core menu items and improve efficiency, he said.
“If it’s something that didn’t exist before, we wanted to get it on the menu. And, if it does exist, we asked ‘is this the best version of this it can possibly be?’ It becomes more around, how do we make those the best they can be? And not so much around, how can we put things in the restaurant that maybe don’t seem like they fit and try and make that work? That’s not what we’re about.
“Abundance is one place where we have a differentiator from a lot of brands. And I think being really intentional about how we make sure everything that we do going forward reflects that abundance and focuses on that sort of convivial family style experience is something that we’ve learned over the last couple of months really resonates with our guests,” he said. “So, that’s something that we’ll continue to keep working on and make sure that we incorporate into whatever we do.”
‘Out of Grandma’s oven’
When it came to reimagining dishes like baked ziti, chicken parmesan and eggplant parmesan, Amoroso worked with Maggiano’s corporate chefs to improve the recipes.
He went on to say, “They were good dishes before, but we didn’t feel like it was as great as it could be in the sense of what were the elements of it that really worked, what were some things that were missing or needed to be taken away?”
For instance, the newly returned baked ziti “is now more in line with what you would expect to find in your grandma’s house,” he said. “Being a baked pasta, it needs to be sort of hot, bubbly. It also needs balance, so we have a wonderful fennel sausage that we make in-house that’s blended in there and lends a lot of sweetness and some juiciness to that.”
Maggiano’s newly returned baked ziti “is now more in line with what you would expect to find in your grandma’s house,” said Anthony Amoroso, vice president of innovation and growth. – PROVIDED BY MAGGIANO’S
“But it was really focusing on, how can you execute in over 50 restaurants something that looks like it came out of grandma’s oven?” he said, adding, “I think it will be a lot closer representation of what grandma makes.”
Part of the process included allowing consumers at some Maggiano’s locations to “test them and beat ‘em up,” Amoroso said.
“Whatever feedback they have, we consider if it’s something we can do and incorporate, we do. And then when I think everybody feels like they’re ready, those get rolled out to the broader field or the rest of the restaurants,” he said.
Maggiano’s is offering a one-day-only Thanksgiving feast for dine-in and carry-out. – PROVIDED BY MAGGIANO’S
Amoroso also said, “Our guests are the heartbeat of this brand — they tell us what’s working, what they miss, and what feels like ‘Maggiano’s’ to them. When we started talking about menu updates, we looked closely at that feedback.”
Going forward, Amoroso said the brand likely won’t deviate much from its core menu because “that’s what guests come to love and expect from us.”
That includes seasonal specialties, like Maggiano’s one-day-only Thanksgiving feast for dine-in and carry-out.
“By and large, over the last six to eight months, feedback has been very positive on anything that we’ve done. But you don’t hit a hundred out of a hundred. So, anything that we don’t think worked, we go back to the drawing board and we rework that,” he said.
“I think our regular guests or our fans understand and appreciate what we’re about,” Amoroso explained. “This is a food meant for group and sharing. Not only sharing a meal but sharing stories. And creating a great experience for everybody is what we try to do on a daily basis. So, that family style and abundance is what we’re about. We like to think we show that the best way possible every day. And we’re fortunate that we get to do that as much as we do.”
Dining and Cooking