Family-run Gusto Italian opens in Owensboro with homemade pasta

Gusto Italian has turned the former Tumbleweed Southwest Grill building at 5257 Frederica Street into a new Italian destination for Owensboro diners. The restaurant opened June 17, bringing Nick Kamberi’s family-run concept into a space that had already caught local attention before the doors opened.

Kamberi, who is Sicilian-born, is building Gusto around recipes rooted in his family’s restaurant tradition. The idea is less about a standard pasta menu and more about making the dining room feel like home while serving authentic Italian food with a personal history behind it. That approach gives the Frederica Street opening a different feel from a chain rollout or a copycat trattoria.

The menu leans hard into comfort and scratch-made appeal. Starters include calamari and ravioli, while the main lineup features homemade lasagna, chicken and veal parmigiana, cannelloni, manicotti, spaghetti, penne, salmon, shrimp, and lobster. Every meal comes with fresh-baked bread made in-house daily, and guests can get unlimited refills, a detail that should resonate with pasta fans looking for a hearty, value-forward meal.

Lunch is part of the plan too. Tuesday through Friday, Gusto offers specials that pair soup or salad with entrées such as lasagna, penne, grilled chicken, cheese ravioli, and spaghetti. Weekly dinner specials are also planned, with chicken piccata, chicken marsala, eggplant dishes, and other traditional plates set to rotate in as the kitchen settles in.

The opening also adds to an already active Italian conversation in Owensboro. Ben Skiadas said earlier this year that, “I think there’s always been space for more Italian in Owensboro,” a sentiment that fits a city where fresh pasta, classic sauces, and family-style dining have been drawing attention. Gusto arrives with a complete renovation of the old Tumbleweed space, which gives the corner a fresh identity while keeping the location familiar.

For diners who noticed the coming-soon banner at the old Tumbleweed site, Gusto now gives that corner a new purpose. It is a pasta house built on family memory, daily bread, and a menu broad enough to make the former steakhouse site feel like an Italian stop worth adding to the local rotation.