Restaurateur Frank Scibelli debuts new concept in SouthPark

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Frank Scibelli’s new SouthPark restaurant feels like home.

Little Mama’s delivers its take on the classic Italian restaurants of the Northeast in the 60s and 70s. Scibelli, operations director Stephanie Kalish and chef partner Tom Dyrness drew inspiration from their own experiences growing up surrounded by that Italian-American cuisine.

The menu is built around family recipes. Family photos of their loved ones, including Scibelli cooking with his own mother, hang from the walls.

“This is definitely a heartfelt restaurant. This is our culinary history,” Scibelli said.

The veteran restaurateur — his FS Food Group is also behind Mama Ricotta’s, Midwood Smokehouse, Yafo Kitchen and Paco’s Tacos & Tequila — has invested roughly $1.5 million into the new concept. It is located at 4521 Sharon Road, tucked behind Diamonds Direct.

The restaurant builds on Scibelli’s popular Mama Ricotta’s, a longtime staple in Charlotte’s midtown, but he wants guests to think of it as a prequel.

“It’s not another Mama’s. It’s its own thing,” he said.

Read more and check out photos here.

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