Fans of Peppino’s Italian Family Restaurants will want to know that founder Joe Moscatiello has a new place and is ready to welcome diners. Peppino’s Italian Family Restaurants in Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and Foothill Ranch closed in March, Moscatiello had transferred them to a new owner before they shuttered.

But on Saturday, May 1, Moscatiello, a popular Orange County restaurateur for over 35 years, and his fiancée Denise Terranova-Silva, opened Joe’s Italian Restaurant & Bar in Ladera Ranch.