Mamma Mia Trattoria on Hypoluxo Road in Lake Worth offers lusty Italian-American cuisine
Mamma Mia Trattoria at Lyons and Hypoluxo Roads (Facebook photo)
One of several related restaurants operated under similar names in Palm Beach County by members of the Lograsso clan, Mamma Mia’s Trattoria and Brick Oven Pizza in western Lake Worth stands out for its food and plentiful outdoor seating.
By ALAN J. WAX
Mamma Mia’s Italian restaurant often is the subject of pool talk in my community. But which one?
There’s the one on Woolbright Road and Military Trail in Boynton Beach, previously reviewed by Delray Dines. A recent re-visit suggested it was not the same as it was back then. There are others as well.
“Have you tried the one on Hypoluxo?” I often was asked by friends and acquaintances.
Until recently, no.
So, duty bound, I made a couple of visits to Mamma Mia’s Trattoria and Brick Oven Pizzeria, a spot with comfortable indoor dining, a bit of a bar scene and plentiful outside seating in a sprawling shopping center on the northeast corner of Lyons Road and Hypoluxo Road in Lake Worth.
Mamma Mia’s dining room.
Takeout counter and bar.
With the exception of the large, canopied outside dining terrace, Mamma Mia’s Trattoria could be any Italian restaurant in suburban Palm Beach County. Unlike Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria of Boynton Beach on Woolbright, the
Hypoluxo spot takes reservations. And as we learned on a recent Thursday evening, they are a necessity to avoid waiting 20 minutes for a table. The spot also has a water-treatment system that turns the local water into a clone of New York City water for use in its pizza dough.
Both Mamma Mia’s outlets, and a few others, are owned by various Lograsso brothers, who late father Gaetano Lograsso opened an eatery in Boynton Beach in 1996.
The Lake Worth Hypoluxo spot was opened in 2004 by the Lograssos. Guiseppe (Joey) Lograsso tookover sole responsibility for the restaurant in 2010. Joey Lograsso, who was born in New York City, heads MIA Brands which includes Mamma Mia’s Trattoria, Mamma Mia’s Trattoria Express in Boynton Beach, MIA Kitchen & Bar in western Delray Beach and Every Event Catering by MIA Brands.
Chicken francese.
Bread, bruschetta and olive oil.
Minestrone soup.
Joey Lograsso’s father was a butcher in Sicily who owned his own shop and farm and who, after moving to the states in the 1960’s, partnered with a family member to open a restaurant in Delray Beach. Joey’s brothers Vincenzo (Vincent) and Francesco (Frank) operate other Mamma Mia’s restaurants in Florida, including eateries in Port St. Lucie (Mamma Mia Osteria) and St. Augustine (Pizza Time), according to public records.
The Hypoluxo location seems perpetually busy. There’s a comfy sofa outside where diners can wait for a text informing them that a table has become available. After walking past the bustling bar diners enter a modern brown-brick walled dining room with arched cubbies everywhere stocked with bottles of wine. There are both booths and tables (high-tops in the bar area). Staffers are attired in black, some in T-shirts advertising the more upscale MIA in Delray Beach.
A server drops off menus and inquires about drink orders. Once orders are entered into the server’s handheld mobile device, a sliced boule with crispy crust and soft white sponge is delivered to the table along with rosemary- spiked olive oil and a vibrant, thick-cut bruschetta of tomatoes, onions and herbs. Garlic rolls, if desired, must be ordered off the menu (six for $4 or 12 for $6).
Small pizza.
Trio of veal, chicken and shrimp parmigiana.
Minestrone soup, included with most entrees, is hearty and flavorful, but benefited from a shake of salt after its arrival. The alternative is pasta fagioli soup or a green salad topped with olives and chickpeas.
Chicken Scarpariello.
Pizza, in this case an 11-inch pie ($13.50), was ordered as an appetizer, though unnecessary as entrees come with a choice of soup or salad. But we had to try a pie from a place that has pizzeria in its name. It arrived fairly quickly. It’s a thin-crust, New York-style pie cut into six slices. The edges are browned and a ring of bright red sauce surrounds a thick, almost to the edge topping of melted Grande Mozzarella cheese. The crust has a slight crunch at the end and the deep-red sauce seemed just a tad too acidic for me.
The Parmigiana Trio ($30), a combination platter of chicken, veal and shrimp, accompanied by pasta, represented a lot of food, but the three fried elements under the cheese and tangy sauce seemed largely indistinguishable in terms of taste texture, albeit tender in terms of the chicken and veal. Chicken Francese ($25), egg-battered slices of chicken in a lemon white wine sauce, as I’ve said many times, is my wife’s go-to dish. She enjoyed the tender white meat scallopini in a nicely balanced sauce.
Chicken scarpariello on the bone ($26) was a lusty combination of cut chicken pieces atop a steaming plateful of sausage, garlic, onions, mushrooms, capers, kalamata olives, pepperoncinis, and white wine. The dish excluded potatoes and vinegar often found in recipes for the dish. Alas, the chicken, apparently roasted, was added in before serving and thus was dry, lacking the deep flavor of this braised Italian-American classic. It also required a steak knife to cut. The flavor improved when the leftovers were reheated the next evening at home.
The food is plentiful at Mamma Mia’s on Hypoluxo, the service attentive and the prices reasonable. There’s a broad menu filled with Italian-American favorites, so if some dishes are less-than-satisfying, there are many other options to try on future visits. And there will be future visits.
Mamma Mia’s Trattoria and Brick Oven Pizzeria
8855 Hypoluxo Road, Lake Worth 33467
561-963-9595
