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New Bella Mia Pizza & Restaurant Italian times three

3 min read

The new Bella Mia Pizza & Restaurant is Italian times three with the owner, head chef and manager all born in Italy, and they are bringing those tastes and traditions to our area.

The new pizzeria is on the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Pondella Road, across from the North Fort Myers Community Pool and Share Club North.

The owner is Sal Migliore, which in loose Italian translation, means “the best.”

The executive chef is Nicola “Nick” Damere and the manager is Carmen Mugmolo.

“We opened this month, and business is already more than we anticipated,” said manager Mugmolo.

Both Migliore and Damere are from Palermo, Italy, and Mugmolo is from Napoli.

“We are all Southern Italians,” Mugmolo said, and now all are Cape Coral residents.

Migliore has had other successful ventures in Southwest Florida, including one in Sarasota. He sold his business there a few years ago, then went back to Italy, then wanted to come back to the United States.

“This was a nice opportunity,” he said of taking over the location. “I looked on the Internet, scouted the area, and the next day I took a plane here.”

He brought prints from Italy to hang on the walls and did the remodeling himself. The restaurant features tiles and faux painting he worked on.

“My idea was to keep the place casual,” he said. “We would like to have all types of customers.”

Being across from the pool and Share Club, and in very close proximity to North Fort Myers High School, he said he hopes all of those affiliated with those spots will become regular customers.

Damere has worked 20 years in the restaurant business, including the Ritz Carlton in Sarasota, and in New York City.

“We make all of our sausages and meatballs in house,” he said.

Visitors will see a lot of Italian on the menu. Favorite dishes of the three include chicken francese, pollo alla francese — a boneless breast of chicken cooked in a white wine lemon sauce served with pasta — and shrimp scampi fradiavolo gameberoni — shrimp in a white wine garlic butter sauce with pasta.

They do sell pizza by the slice, a lunch draw for many, and they feature a full Italian restaurant menu.

Server Karen LaTorre loves her job, even in just the few weeks it has been open.

“It is a wonderful place,” she said. “We have fun. We want our neighbors to com in, like the bar ‘Cheers,’ to get to know us.”

Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Sunday noon to 9 p.m. They do delivery, catering and carry-out. The address is 5171 Orange Grove Blvd. For information, call 599-8116.