Restauranteur and owner Frank Scibelli calls Little Mama’s a “prequel” to Mama Ricotta’s, a Charlotte staple since it opened in 1992. The new Italian-American restaurant is a representation of the restaurants Scibelli and partners Stephanie Kalish and Tom Dyrness remember dining at while growing up in the Northeast in the ’60s and ’70s.

And you can see that in the details at Little Mama’s — old-school booths, decades-old family photographs, and a mozzarella bar (a.k.a. the “mozz bar”). While Little Mama’s celebrates many old Italian-American traditions, and continues to serve some of Mama Ricotta’s best hits like penne alla vodka, it offers plenty of newness to Charlotte’s dining scene, too.