Mama's making moves in Trexlertown

A few months ago, I highlighted the rise of area mom-and-pop pizza shops from new additions such as Suzanna's in Palmer Township and Villa Grande in Bath to growing restaurants such as Ray's Pizza in Allentown and Westgate Pizza in Bethlehem.

Now, I bring you further proof of the booming business model with the expansion of Mama's Italian Grill in Trexlertown.

The 42-seat restaurant at 1044 Trexlertown Road (in Waterside Shoppes strip mall) debuted in March 2013 and is already building another venue next door a stand-alone, 72-seat restaurant that will supplement the existing menu with more upscale offerings. It also will accommodate an increasing number of catering requests.

"Business has been tremendous," said Schnecksville's Giuseppe DiFiore, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother-in-law, Marcello D'Agostino. "This new restaurant will give our diners more space to enjoy the homemade dishes they've come to love, as well as some new items such as Fiorentina steaks and grilled seafood."

Construction started about eight months ago at 1106 Trexlertown Road, the site of the old Mazzolla's II Italian restaurant, and DiFiore expects the new 1,780-square-foot eatery, which will also be called Mama's, to open in the spring.

It will be the family's third Mama's location, supplementing the neighboring strip mall spot and the original Berlinsville restaurant that opened 25 years ago.

During a recent visit to the Trexlertown eatery, I observed the family-run business' need to expand firsthand as there was a line at the counter and barely a free table in sight. A hardworking crew, headed by DiFiore's daughter and marketing manager Antonella, were cool under the pressure, though, and kept the operation moving swiftly.

Mama's showcases the brothers-in-laws' heritage (DiFiore is from Sicily and D'Agostino is from Naples) with a wide variety of Italian specialties from calzones, strombolis and manicotti to veal marsala, shrimp scampi and calamari marinara.

The brick-oven pizza lineup is perhaps the most impressive, though, with more than 40 varieties from German, Hawaiian and seafood to baked ziti, Mexican taco and chicken cordon bleu.

"We're bringing something nice to the Breinigsville area traditional recipes with a modern twist, all made with never-frozen ingredients," Antonella said. "The chicken parm, for example we beat it, cut it, egg it and bread it."

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Mama's making moves in Trexlertown