Tuscan Sea Grill now open in Newburyport

Newburyport, MA Tuscan Brands, a regional leader in artisanal Italian cuisine, has opened its first seafood-driven restaurant, Tuscan Sea Grill, at 54 Merrimac St. along the waterfront. 

Owned by entrepreneur, restaurateur, and Lawrence native Joe Faro, Tuscan Sea Grill will focus on coastal Italian-inspired preparations that utilize locally sourced seafood, blending Faro’s Sicilian heritage with his New England roots. The restaurant will also feature the scratch-made Italian classics, like pasta and pizza, that regional diners have been enjoying at Faro’s Tuscan Kitchen and Tuscan Market locations for years. 

Quite literally located on the water in town, where the Merrimac River begins to widen as it opens up to the Atlantic Ocean, Tuscan Sea Grill will also feature a raw bar, wine list, and a collection of cocktails. 

that will combine to create a special al fresco dining experience. Tuscan Sea Grill will be open every day for lunch and dinner, and on Saturdays and Sundays, the waterfront restaurant will serve brunch. 

“We can’t wait to bring Tuscan Brands to another part of the Merrimack Valley,” said Faro, CEO and “Chief Food Taster” of Tuscan Brands. “This restaurant will be a new concept for us, curated just for Newburyport. It’s going to be such a special destination, considering its incredible waterfront location at the end of the Merrimac Street boardwalk and its ocean-inspired interior design. Given Tuscan’s DNA of ‘artisan Italian cuisine’ and the surroundings of our newest restaurant, our focus will be coastal Italian creations.”

Tuscan Sea Grill joins the growing list of restaurants and markets in the Tuscan Brands family, with Faro and his team already operating three Tuscan Kitchen locations (Boston, Mass.; Burlington, Mass.; and Salem, N.H.) and two Tuscan Market locations (Salem, N.H. and Portsmouth, N.H.). Tuscan Brands is also currently developing another restaurant in downtown Portsmouth, N.H., along with Tuscan Village, a 170-acre destination bringing 2.8 million square feet of retail, residential, medical, and office properties to Salem, N.H.

As the son of Italian immigrants, Faro started working in his parents’ bakery at a young age, eventually enrolling as a student at the University of New Hampshire. In an entrepreneurship class, Faro came up with a business idea called Joseph’s Gourmet Pastas and Sauces. Years later, the business that started as a school project was purchased by the world’s largest food company, Nestle, in 2006. Since then, Faro has built Tuscan Brands into one of the region’s premier artisanal food companies.