The smell of fresh bread, pasta and cannolis made from scratch is likely to start wafting through Muscatine's downtown and the new Merrill Hotel and Conference Center, starting next week. Mamma Mia Italian Restaurante will open on the first floor of The Pearl building, 101 W. Mississippi Drive, Muscatine. Brothers and co-owners, Feim and Gony Veseli, hope their business will cater to everyone, from families looking for an affordable lunch and business leaders holding meetings at the new hotel next door.

The Muscatine restaurant will be the second for the Veseli brothers, who have owned Napoli's Italian Restaurant in Marion for more than seven years. Feim Veseli, previously of Texas, said he has traveled the world but decided to open his next restaurant in Muscatine, to be closer to family and because of the potential for development. "We operate pretty much like a family business, and to have most of the family here, that means a lot," he said.