New Eatery Brings 'Italian Authenticity with American Convenience' to Kennesaw

KENNESAW — As a mother, Jennifer Erdman knows how messy to-go food can be.

With Pochino Italy, she wanted people to be able to easily enjoy classic Italian fare on the go, catering to the busy lives of many Americans.

“We designed Pochino Italian forward, American convenience, because the thought of taking two hours for lunch is not an option,” Erdman said.

The new fast-casual restaurant opened its doors in late May in The Village at Town Park shopping center near Kennesaw State University. Erdman co-founded the restaurant alongside Sam Lundy, Andrea Casarin, Giuseppe Barbera and Chris Lowe.

Erdman and Lundy, former chief operating officer of Cheeburger Cheeburger Restaurants, had previously worked together for Marcus Lemonis, host of CNBC’s “The Profit,” a reality television show where Lemonis would rescue struggling businesses. Lundy ran the operations as Lemonis’ business partner and Erdman worked as head of brand, she said.

Eventually, Erdman and Lundy teamed up with Italian restaurateurs Barbera and Casarin to fill a gap in the U.S. market for authentic Italian food, Erdman said.

“Italian and American cuisine complement each other, but they’re not the same,” Erdman said.

The four began working together on the idea for Pochino until the COVID-19 pandemic halted their plans. While she kept in contact with everyone, Erdman said she couldn’t leave the Pochino folder sitting on her desk untouched.

Eventually, the team reunited to start developing Pochino, with the Italian partners handling recipe development.

While Erdman wanted to honor Casarin and Barbera’s desire to stay true to Italian, she knew they would have to adapt to an American audience.

“Pochino stays true to authenticity, which is extremely important to (Casarin and Barbera) but I also know we’re a business and we want to feed the people what they want to eat,” Erdman said. “Pochino means a little bite so we’re giving you a little bite of Italy.”

The menu allows customers to build their own pasta bowls, choosing from various sauces and pasta shapes, with most sauces and pastas made fresh in house.

The two most popular sauces are the pomodoro and the pesto. According to Erdman, it took Casarin and Barbera six versions before they felt the four-ingredient pomodoro sauce was “just right.”

“Food is their life and I want people to be able to experience that,” Erdman said.

In their first month of being open, she said the most important thing was listening to feedback and understanding what needed to change and what was going well.

This approach has led to menu adjustments, such as allowing customers to add protein to pasta dishes.

“To tell Italians to add protein to the pasta, it was insane,” Erdman said. “But adding chicken is so normal in America.”

In addition to buildable bowls, Pochino serves pinsas, a Roman-style, hand-pressed pizza that uses a lighter form of pizza dough. Customers can choose from several traditional styles like the Salsiccia with mozzarella and Italian sausage, which is General Manager Steven Moo’s favorite.

Chris Cahill, who coaches women’s soccer at KSU, stopped by Pochino on Friday because he had been curious to try the pizzas.

“I drive past this every day on my way to work. I’m a pizza snob and had to see what it’s all about,” Cahill said. “Pizza is the gateway drug for me. If the pizza is good, everything else is good after that. The pizza’s phenomenal.”

Cahill was so impressed with his margherita pizza that he said he planned to bring his team to Pochino for some of their pregame meals.

Other offerings include salads, Italian desserts like gelato and freshly piped cannoli as well as hot and cold espresso drinks.

“Pochino is also developing its own line of Italian sodas with flavors like cherry and sour lemon,” Erdman said.

The proximity to KSU is one of the main reasons the team chose the flagship location, Erdman said. She believes the surrounding area of a college campus, hospital and corporate offices will give the restaurant a diverse audience to provide honest feedback.

“We’re also about to sign a partnership with KSU as a sponsor to partner locally with the sports and athletic department,” Erdman said. “Nobody loves to eat pasta more than athletes.”

Erdman and Moo said they hope to have a pickup window installed by the time students return in the fall, as they’ve heard from other businesses in the area it’ll get busy.

The summer slow period has been perfect for focusing on refining operations and setting up the infrastructure to eventually franchise within the next six to eight months, Erdman said.

Eventually hoping to open 200-plus locations, Erdman said the next location will likely be within a 5- to 10-mile radius, around Canton or Woodstock.

“A lot of the people that come in, a lot of our repeats, actually don’t live close by and they’ve been asking when we’re going to open more locations,” Moo said.

Pochino Italy at 600 Chastain Road Northwest is open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday. Erdman said these hours will likely change once KSU students return from summer break and the restaurant gets busier.