Tucked away back in the corner of Muppet Courtyard off of Grand Avenue is Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You will smell the delicious fare long before you ever even see the restaurant!
Checked curtains, overhead string lights, hanging foodstuffs, and walls crowded with Mama’s eclectic mementos transform this former backlot warehouse into a cozy and inviting dining space.
Mama Melrose’s Story
As with most everything in Disney, the Imagaineers developed an entire back story. Mama Melrose’s story makes it perfectly clear how this charming restaurant fits perfectly in Hollywood Studios!
Once upon a time, a young girl from a small Sicilian village moved to Hollywood to become a star. However, she soon found that cooking was her true calling as she re-created her papa’s secret recipes for her starving actor friends.
At their urging, she opened a restaurant in a vacant backlot warehouse once used to store film equipment. Mama’s culinary talents soon attracted the patronage of film industry insiders, who dubbed her Mama Melrose, after the lively Los Angeles thoroughfare. Her establishment became known as the place “where Italy meets California in the heart of the Backlot,” and the rest, as they say, is history.
We’ve dined at Mama Melrose’s a number of times over the years. My favorite meal is the caprese salad and meatball appetizer.
John loves their Caesar salad and both boys always go for the spaghetti and meatballs. Honey speaks very highly of the steak, dubbing it the best steak “value” at Disney.
While Hollywood Studios has been crazy busy the past couple of years with Toy Story Land, Galaxy’s Edge and Runaway Railway openings, it is still my second favorite to wander (after Magic Kingdom). I particularly love twilight, when the sun is setting and all of the neon lights transport you to Hollywood.
Let’s Travel & My Services
I enjoyed hearing from so many of you on Instagram over the course of my trips… those ready to book a new trip, those that had decided to go on trips already booked and those that aren’t ready to travel but enjoyed having a little magic in their feed.
I missed my job so, so much over the closure and am thrilled to be back in the business of making magic! Most aspects of planning a Disney vacation look different and now, more than ever, it is crucial to have the most current, up to date information based on personal experience to plan your vacation! I know these parks inside and out and am a small, one woman show. I hope that my love and passion for Disney shows through in every photo, video and post.
When the time is right for your family to travel, I’d be honored to be YOUR advisor. Magic is here!
As Premier Level Advisor with Glass Slipper Concierge, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Disney Aulani Hawaii, Universal, Sea World and to over 40 countries on 7 continents through Adventures by Disney® and National Geographic Expeditions.
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