The Dough Forge: A Sicilian Family Kitchen on 27th Street East

If you’re searching for Carmen’s Italian Cafe on 27th Street East, you’ve found it, under a new name. The Dough Forge is the same family, the same dining room and the same Sicilian cooking, now led by the next generation.

Three generations of Rizzos

The restaurant is co-owned by Zo Rizzo and his wife, Rikkii, the Bradenton Herald reported when it relaunched in fall 2025. Zo’s father, Camillo, was born in Palermo, opened restaurants in the US and ran Carmen’s Italian Cafe in Manatee County for years. Zo started learning to cook Sicilian food with him at 12. When Camillo retired, Zo bought the business to keep it in the family, and his teenage son, Luciano, is now learning the recipes too. The menu even has a Luciano’s Tortellini.

The restaurant’s website leans into the name: the family describes its craft as turning flour, water and fire into food, the way a blacksmith works metal.

What to order

The pizza is the headliner. Everything is made to order, and Zo told the Herald the kitchen cooks with water imported from Italy, which he credits for the crust. Build your own or pick a house pie:

Prices from thedoughforge.com/menu on October 21, 2026; toppings are extra on build-your-own pies.

Past the pizza, the menu reads like a Sicilian Sunday dinner: chicken and eggplant parmesan, Sicilian spaghetti with meatballs or sausage, manicotti, stuffed shells, baked ziti, and an osso buco alla Siciliana ($32.95). Most dinners run about $16 to $25. Desserts rotate with the season and have included limoncello mascarpone cake, tiramisu and cannoli. The Herald also noted a full bar with wines from Sicily.

Feeding a crowd

The Dough Forge does catering by the half or full tray: baked ziti ($50/$95), lasagna ($60/$110), chicken marsala ($70/$130), eggplant rollatini, penne alla vodka and salads, plus wings by the 30 or 50. Call or email to order; the site doesn’t list a minimum notice, so ask when you book.

Know before you go

Menu, catering prices and contact details from thedoughforge.com on October 21, 2026. Prices can change.

Make a night of it

Dinner first, then a show? Our sister site Bradenton Tonight has movies, comedy and live shows around town. Heading downtown on a Saturday instead? The Bradenton Public Market runs every Saturday morning on Old Main Street, October through May.