Italian dishes, seafood and steak on menu at Little Italy

• Tell us about your place: Little Italy, which is on Walter Reed Road near Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, is a friendly, family style restaurant with authentic Italian food and a full bar, said owner Giuseppe Scibilia, who opened the restaurant in 2007. The aromas of fresh oregano and basil, fresh pasta and sauces, and pizza — hot from the oven — pleasantly converge at the bustling Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Scibilia said he was 17 when he came to America from Sicily. “I opened my first pizza shop at Campbell University, in Buies Creek, which I operated for five years,” he said. He also previously owned and operated Roma’s Pizza in downtown Fayetteville.

• Specialties: “Our specialties are Italian dishes, seafood and steak,” Scibilia said, “with weekly and seasonal specials on the weekends.”

Craving pasta? There are 16 pasta dishes on the menu, including Sicilian-style spaghetti that is prepared with black olives, fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, anchovies and olive oil. Another popular item is the spaghetti carbonara, which combines egg, ham, onions, Parmesan cheese, parsley and a touch of cream in the sauce.

The seafood fra diavolo is a house specialty. It is a mildly spicy dish that has shrimp, clams and mussels. The fresh cod stew is one of the restaurant’s savory seafood specials with cod, fresh vegetables, olives and potatoes.

• Most popular dish: “The steaks are very popular,” Scibilia said. The New York strip is a 12-ounce strip steak cooked to order and served with pasta, a vegetable and a choice of soup or salad.

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“The pizzas and stuffed pies are also popular,” he said. Customers may choose from the spinach pie, the calzone, stromboli or a variety of house-made pizzas that include meat-lovers, veggie, white pizza or Sicilian style. “We also have a new cauliflower pizza crust on the menu,” Scibilia said. “It is low in calories and gluten-free.” The pizza sizes are small and large.

Desserts include the espresso and the almond tiramisu, cakes and cheesecakes.

• Why should diners eat here? “We are an authentic family style Italian restaurant with high quality food and good service,” he said.

Alison Minard

• Address: 1400 Walter Reed Road

• Contact: 910-867-8700, littleitalyfay.com, Facebook

• Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• Type of food: Authentic Italian cuisine that includes appetizers, soups, salads, pasta, eggplant, chicken, veal, seafood, Sicilian pizza, stuffed pies, cold and hot subs, desserts, and a full bar

• Price range: $9 to $22

Little Italy Pizzeria and Restaurant