By Gary Nager
Where do you go in Wesley Chapel for great Italian food? Itâs not a trick question. I know we have a lot of good pizza places in Wesley Chapel proper, but since DâAlessio, Ciao! Italian Bistro and even Primadonna have opened and closed in either New Tampa or Wesley Chapel, there really is no place for authentic Italian cuisine in either of our distribution areas.
However, there is a great little place that weâve helped create something of a stir about (admittedly, with a lot of help from the Wesley Chapel Community on Facebook.com) thatâs located just a couple of miles west of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO) mall, in the same space that used to be occupied by Boscoâs Pizza.
We may have helped stirred things up for them, but Little Italyâs Family Restaurant & Catering owners Carl and Chef Jessica Meyers have kept the sauce pot simmering nicely ever since with Jessicaâs amazing recipes and the happy coupleâs no-B.S. northeastern attitude and homemade Italian food âlike mama used to make.â
Jessica is originally from Canarsie, a tough part of Brooklyn, New York, where she learned real Italian cooking, especially from her grandmother. This reporter is particularly happy that Jessica learned everything she needs to know about making the perfect red sauce, which most Italian food lovers (like yours truly) canât live without.
First, let me say that although Little Italy is in no way fancy, itâs really a misnomer to call it a âpizza place â even though Jessica does offer amazing true Sicilian-style thick-crust pizza with a variety of great toppings, or try the âI Did It My Wayâ where the first three toppings are âon us.â
Iâm not holding it against her that thereâs no round New York thin-crust pizza at Little Italyâs, but I hope that when they expand into a larger location â which the Meyers are already trying to do â maybe theyâll add the thin-crust âza, too.
In the meantime, Jessica says, âI use the best ingredients and make everything here, except for the actual dough for the pizza crust and the real Italian bread we make our âgrindasâ with. That, we import from New York.â
âNew Jersey,â Carl, who met Jessica in his native Rhode Island, chimes back.
âSomewhere up there anyway,â she laughs. âThe best Italian bread Iâve found.â
My favorite dish so far has to be the meatball parmigiana grinda ($9). Jessicaâs big, homemade meatballs are literally too much to contain, even for the crispiest, most perfect Italian hoagie roll Iâve had in the Tampa Bay area, swaddled in a thick, red marinara.
That bread also is no slouch when wrapped around Little Italyâs tender, but thick cut of chicken breast parmigiana ($9 grinda, $14 with spaghetti). And those to-die-for meatballs are also available in some of the best spaghetti and meatballs around ($13). All of these dishes make a great meal for two hungry people who both crave this kind of âcomfort food.â
Other traditional Italian pasta favorites (all $12-$15 for a huge portion) on the menu are baked lasagna, eggplant rollatini or parmigiana, fettuccini Alfredo or bolognese (meat sauce) and some properly pillowy ravioli. I bet if enough of you ask nicely, Carl will even give the OK to adding his linguine with a loaded with clams zesty white clam butter sauce Iâve never tasted before sampled (but wasnât allowed to photograph; just kidding) on my most recent visit. Iâm so thankful that Iâve yet to get my shellfish reaction from clams, âcause I love âem and this was a dish worth risking it on, ya know?
For starters, if your family loves any kind of cheese sticks, you have to try the mozzarella âhalf-moons,â which literally are so big more than two people can share them (for just $6!). Other of our officeâs favorites to date are a great bruschetta appetizer ($6), an even better caprese salad with a beautiful balsamic finish and an excellent house salad. Other big-portion starters (all $5-$8) on the menu are Jessicaâs own âsmashed potatoes,â French fry and onion ring baskets and garlic and cheesy garlic bread.
âGive Me That Calzone…â
Even when I lived in New York, I was never a big calzone guy. But, if you even like a traditional (with a unique tomato sauce, Bacio mozzarella and creamy ricotta, $10) or chicken parm, Buffalo chicken or âI Did It My Wayâ options (all $13). Just try to eat one of these bad boys without at least four other people…six in some cases.
Even if youse guys feel like a burger, Little Italyâs has you covered, with the already-legendary-in-our-office Godfather burger. It costs $10, but is an 8-oz. slab of made-to-order ground beef, salami and cappicola ham, encased with melted provolone, then topped with prosciutto ham and a balsamic glaze reduction, all on a garlic toasted bun. Add $3 for a huge portion of great fries or the thick onion rings pictured above.
Lilâ Goombas catch a break with smaller portions of those delicious âpa-skettiâ and meatballs or cheese ravioli (both $5) or âchickyâ fingers and fries for $6.
At least try to save some room for dessert because Jessica promises that no matter how busy she gets, she will always come to your table and hand-fill you one or two (or seven) of her crispy cannoli shells (as she is in the photo above) with the best cannoli filling Iâve had since a certain bakery in Elmont, NY, I mentioned in a previous article.
And, Jessica promises that she can handle your holiday catering order like nobody else. She and Carl started in Florida with a popular mobile food truck called âLittle Italyâs Meatballs, where they served hundreds of people a day. In other words, she means it when she says, âNo order too large or too small,â she says.
For more info about Little Italyâs Family Restaurant & Catering (24436 S.R. 54, Lutz, next to Walesby Vision), call 909-2122, visit LittleItalyFamilyRestaurant.com. It is open Tues.-Sat. at noon for lunch and dinner.
