Dimitri Moshovitis left Quince Orchard High School in 1995, already hooked on the restaurant industry from bussing tables at Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse in Gaithersburg. Three decades and roughly 450 Cava locations later, the Darnestown native is opening Maurizio's, an Italian restaurant at 10120 River Road in the Potomac Place shopping center, in the space where Renato's served the community for more than 30 years.

The restaurant is expected to open this fall, according to a Store Reporter preview published July 9. A Bethesda Magazine profile published Aug. 7 pegged the timeline as "by the end of the year."

"It's gonna be Italian cooking our style, with clean flavors and lots of the classics reimagined," Moshovitis told Bethesda Magazine.

Moshovitis, 47, co-founded Cava in 2006 with Ted Xenohristos and Ike Grigoropoulos as a full-service Greek restaurant in Rockville. The chain went public on the NYSE in June 2023 and operated 459 locations nationwide as of early 2026. The three co-founders also run Wildgoat Hospitality Group, which operates Cava Mezze in Rockville and upscale restaurants Julii, Melina and Bouboulina at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda.

Maurizio's will be their sixth full-service restaurant in Montgomery County.

The project carries personal weight. The restaurant is named for Maurizio Luise, the group's longtime director of operations who died unexpectedly in November 2025. Luise helped build the day-to-day operations across the founders' restaurant portfolio.

Executive Chef Aris Tsekouras, who runs the kitchens at the Pike & Rose locations, will oversee Maurizio's as well. The coastal Italian menu will feature handmade pastas, small plates, grilled branzino, chicken parm, linguine and clams, and a dedicated Negroni Bar. Some dishes will nod to Renato's, according to MoCoShow reporting from April.

The Potomac connection runs deep for the ownership group. Xenohristos grew up delivering pizzas for his uncle's restaurant, Tally Ho, the diner across River Road from the Potomac Place shopping center. Moshovitis now lives in North Potomac, where he grills over open fire for his family in their backyard.

When the group announced the project in January, co-founder Grigoropoulos acknowledged the space's history, telling MoCoShow that as someone from the community, he understands what Renato's meant to Potomac and that the team is committed to honoring that legacy.

Renato's opened in 1990 and closed Sept. 30, 2024, after the Potomac Restaurant Group spent three and a half years searching for a buyer.

Planned hours for Maurizio's: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. A firm opening date has not been announced.