Carmelo's

A new-ish Italian restaurant in Covington with Piqua ties.

Sep 08, 2025

Ever since I read this review in The Cincinnati Enquirer in late January, I’ve wanted to check out Carmelo’s in Covington.

Why?

I was sold on the Piqua ties.

Co-owner Billy Grise named it after his great grandfather, Carmelo "Charles" Caserta, a Sicilian immigrant who once owned a popular restaurant and catering company in Piqua, Ohio, which opened in 1916. Grise spent time working at the restaurant off and on until it closed in 2018.
Grise, who works the front-of-house at Carmelo's, honors his family in ways that range from subtle to tear-jerking. Here's my favorite touch: He keeps a candy dish on the maitre d' stand because his grandfather, like any good Italian grandparent worth his salt, always had one in his home. On a wall near the restaurant's kitchen, Grise also hung a collage of black-and-white photos of Carmelo, his restaurant and his immigration papers from Ellis Island.

Since some of my family hails from Piqua, I am familiar with Caserta’s, and even went there (at least once) as a kid. Charles was originally Carmello but changed his name upon moving to the United States, a family member points out in the comments on Dann Woellert the Food Etymologist’s site1:

Angelo Caserta grew up in a very Sicilian, very devoutly Catholic family, with 10 other siblings, son of Charles Caserta and Nunciatina “Nancy” Cipriano. When Caserta’s father, Charles came through Ellis Island from Messina, Sicily, they told him to change his first name from Carmello to Charles. He met his wife, also from Sicily (Palermo), in Piqua, and in 1916-ish they started the Charles Caserta Restaurant, still in business in Piqua, Ohio, at 331 South Roosevelt, two blocks from their ancestral home on Wood Street.

Indeed, it was one of the first things I noticed in this sparsely-decorated modern restaurant.

As Pandolfi’s review explains, it’s part of a broader montage dedicated to Carmelo Caserta, and there are some framed ties (presumably his) and there is a cartoon of him on the menu.

As we were there to celebrate, we (read: I) over ordered. No regrets. Here’s what we got, though I didn’t get pictures of it all:

Hand-pulled mozzarella appetizer. More than enough for two.
Simple Green and Caesar salads. I preferred the Caesar, but whatever you order, one salad is enough for two.
Spicy Shrimp and Oxtail Ragu. My wife got the shrimp and I don’t eat seafood so I did not try it. The oxtail ragu was fantastic and I ate all of it.
Side of potatoes. These garlicky cubes were great on their own, even better in the leftover ragu.
Budino. Since it was a special occasion, we were treated to the “Rich chocolate pudding layered with candied hazelnuts and whipped cream.” It was great.

Check out the full menu.

We’ll definitely be back and highly advise you try it. Carmelo’s is the sort of place where if you left your sunglasses, they’ll call you immediately so you can pick them back up before you head out. Which is exactly what happened to us.