Gianni & Mac’s Ristorante Piazza Nostra, located on the picturesque Marietta Square, has been offering wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta, signature cocktails, decadent desserts and more since January 2025. With its elevated and classic interior, complete with hardwood floors, wooden and exposed-brick accents and cushioned velvet bar-top seating, and a spacious outdoor patio for year-round dining, Gianni & Mac’s is the ideal spot for all occasions, from romantic evenings and celebratory dinners to casual get-togethers with family and friends.
Italian Roots
Gianni Betti is the chef and co-owner of Gianni & Mac’s, and he’s been in the business of cooking exceptional food since his beginnings in Italy, where he and his brothers launched Fattoria degli Usignoli, a restaurant nestled in the Florentine countryside. Since then, he has opened multiple restaurants in Europe and the United States, with roles ranging from manager to executive chef.
It wasn’t until the notable Randy “Mac” McCray, an Atlanta-based restaurateur, stumbled upon Gianni’s Buckhead-based restaurant, Cibo e Beve, that the idea for Gianni & Mac’s came to be. “Every time I go into a restaurant, I watch the dynamics,” Randy says. “I like to see how people move, how they work.”
As a result, Randy sneakily, albeit unknowingly, attempted to poach the server at Cibo e Beve, who just so happened to be Gianni’s son. But he defends himself: “I didn’t know he was [Gianni’s] son, I swear. He was just doing a great job!”
The impression his son made speaks to Gianni’s legacy and work ethic — that hospitality is lived, not announced, that family is at the root of it all. It’s what brought Randy McCray and Gianni Betti together. “When I met [Gianni], he said to me, ‘You know, in Italy, we cook with our heart.’ That really stuck with me,” Randy muses. “There’s something to be said about that.”
Cooking with heart
As Gianni treated me to an Italian feast, I could feel the heart in every bite.
It began with the appetizers: superbly fried calamari with a sweet and peppery gastrique for garnish, made perfect by the delicious, tangy crunch from the pepperoncinis on the side, as well as the Gondola Bites — breaded and fried rice balls with a savory pomodoro sauce, imbued with bits of ricotta.
It continued with a trio of pasta entrees: a decadently creamy Penne Vodka, with just a slight kick from fresh-cracked red pepper; a rich Taglierini Norcina, with ground sausage and notes of truffle cut perfectly by the Parmigiano and cream base; and a stellar Black Diamond Bolognese, Gianni’s grandmother’s original recipe.
For the finale: a pleasantly smooth, not-at-all-bitter tiramisu, filled with a pillowy custard amid its delicate ladyfingers, and the cream-filled cannoli, with just the right amount of sweetness and a fluffy yet dense interior that is almost, you imagine, like a cloud in a Tuscan sunset.
From start to finish, the food tells a story. It’s the way Gianni Betti and Randy McCray envisioned their restaurant. “We wanted the restaurant to look like a story,” Gianni says. “Possibilities. You walk in, you see things, and you say, ‘I want that.’”
And from the moment patrons walk in and eye the charcuterie bar to the left, that’s exactly the experience they have. Claiming the title of “Marietta Square’s First Charcuterie Bar,” the display encourages customers to not only admire the case lined with hand-selected meats, imported cheeses, seasonal accompaniments and chef-curated pairings, but to pick whatever they’d like to meet their dine-in or to-go needs. For picnics, concerts and parties or just a quick bite to eat, the charcuterie bar turns food into an event. This is “what [we] like to do for [our] customers,” says Gianni, offering a visual, almost tactile, experience.
Take the viral cheese wheel, for example. When the server rolls the cart to the customers’ table, patrons’ faces range from shock and awe to delight and envy. The massive hollowed-out wheel is used to toss homemade taglierini pasta in pure, melted cheese, coating it in a thick, heavenly sauce. This is all done tableside, of course.
Or the gelato cart, which, much like the cheese wheel, started as an experiment but quickly became one of the restaurant’s most recognizable experiences. The cart wheels gelato to guests’ tables, allowing them to choose their flavors and custom toppings, everything from caramel balls and chocolate chips to mixed berries and gummy bears.
One Big Happy Family
It’s the way Gianni & Mac’s values its staff, however, that truly sets it apart. “We are only as good as our staff,” Randy emphasizes. “They’re the ones doing the work every single day.” And Gianni shares this sentiment, talking about the restaurant as an ecosystem. “If you think running a restaurant is a one-way show, you’re in the wrong business,” he shares. “Every person is important here. Every person serves a role.” It’s one thing to say this; it’s another to put it into practice. But the joy in this place from the servers, hosts and attendants is palpable.
It’s how Gianni has always wanted his restaurants to feel: familial, jubilant, intentional — the way the Italians do it. “Growing up in Italy …,” Gianni begins, going on to tell me a story of sitting at the family table, where meals weren’t optional or rushed. They were daily rituals that kept families grounded and connected.
It’s this feeling that’s kept the people of Marietta coming back for a little slice of Italian heaven. “The way the community has received us … I wasn’t expecting that,” he says with sincerity. “It’s been overwhelming.”
The passion — not only for his restaurant, but for his patrons, staff and Italian food in general — can be felt in every facet and detail. It’s inspiring, really.
Slice of Heaven
While seated, Gianni reaches over and shows me the flashy headline on his phone: “December 2025: UNESCO officially recognizes Italian cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?” he asks, pointing emphatically at the headline. I shrug, but I’m certainly curious to find out. “No other nation has been given this honor,” he elaborates. “Italian food is not just eating … It’s sharing a moment with people. It’s family. It’s sitting at the same table. It’s respect for the work behind the food. It’s life.”
I pause, considering what this must mean for an Italian American man from humble origins offering a dining experience that transports customers to the heart of Tuscany.
Before my departure, I overhear a young man and woman on what sounds like their first date. They’re behind me, so I can’t see them, but in between the awkward getting-to-know-you banter, I can hear the man’s smile in his voice as he begins to reflect on the food’s ability to transport him to his Italian roots. Aunts, uncles, cousins, his grandfather and the business he forged from nothing — an entire family’s history shared, all because the food inspires him.
What a thing to be transported back home, to feel the love in the cooking, the same way you felt it in your Italian grandmother’s braciole — reflecting on old memories while making new ones. Maybe they’ll go on to make memories together, I think to myself. And I smile as I walk away, knowing that that’s exactly what Gianni wants his food to do.
For more information, check out gianniandmacs.com, or follow them on social media @gianniandmacs. Be sure to sign up for their Tuscan Table Insiders Club to receive the latest news, exclusive offers and event invitations.
