Melissa, meanwhile, is “upset,” the insider adds. “She wishes they never got involved in the restaurant.”
Earlier this week, Melissa vaguely spoke about the closing during Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “We are relocating and making it bigger, so we closed down that location,” she said of the Italian food joint, which opened in May 2017. “Do not go to that location. It is not Gorga’s … You’re gonna hear a lot more. Let’s just say that location is not ours.”
The Envy Boutique owner also spoke out about the situation on The Morning Breath. “We were having issues with the management and the way they were running it. There were a couple shady things going on,” she said on the same day.
As previously reported, Gorga’s Homemade Pasta & Pizza closed less than one year after it opened after launching it in May.
“Joe is done with Gorga’s Homemade Pasta & Pizza,” a source told Us Weekly. “The actual owner of the restaurant and Joe worked out this deal where Joe would get money … if he lent his name and image to the restaurant. But the owner never made good on his end of the deal so Joe is done with the restaurant.”
Despite closing its doors, the Gorga/Guidices insist they are not giving up the restaurant game just yet.
“They are in the process of closing down that location. They are looking for a bigger space, more conducive to the original vision that they had for the restaurant,” Giudice and Gorga’s lawyer James J. Leonard told PEOPLE about the eatery.
“They are in the process of looking to secure new management to help basically execute that vision and make what their dreams were more of a reality. This particular space was small and just wasn’t really conducive to what they were looking to do,” Leonard said.
As for where the new establishment will be located, the family attorney could not disclose the exact city. “I would predict it would be in the North Jersey area,” he shared.
The humble beginnings of Gorga’s Homemade Pasta & Pizza has been heavily featured as a storyline on this season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Gorga opened the eatery as a tribute to his and Giudice’s parents, Giancinto and Antonia, in May 2017. Their mother, who passed away in March, served as an inspiration behind the recipes for the restaurant, which was the setting of several conflicts throughout this season, reports the publication.
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