South Tampa has a new Italian contender, and L’Amorino is arriving with a menu that leans hard into Palermo rather than generic red-sauce comfort food. The new restaurant on South MacDill Avenue comes from the couple behind Bayshore Mediterranean Grill, with arancina, carbonara and a seafood-heavy paccheri dish setting the tone.
L’Amorino opened this summer, according to That’s So Tampa, and its identity starts with Oliviana, who grew up in Palermo and trained in haute couture at Florence’s Polimoda fashion school. She and Serdar spent 12 years building Bayshore Mediterranean Grill before turning their attention to a restaurant centered on Sicilian heritage, seasonal ingredients and what they call “a niche for the niche.”
A Palermo-Born Menu With Tampa-Made Pasta
The menu includes arancina, fried saffron risotto balls filled with mozzarella; bucatini carbonara with guanciale, egg and Pecorino Romano; and paccheri allo scoglio loaded with clams, mussels, calamari and prawns. L’Amorino’s official menu also lists Sicilian caponata, eggplant parmigiana, spaghetti with clams and bottarga, and baked Palermitan anelletti.
One particularly Tampa detail is hiding underneath all that Italian tradition: the restaurant uses Luca Artisanal Pasta, a Tampa-made product. As outlined on L’Amorino’s story page, the owners see the restaurant as a meeting point for Sicilian heritage, technical craft, family and respect for the land.
What To Know Before You Go
L’Amorino is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with Friday and Saturday hours extending to 10 p.m., according to That’s So Tampa. The restaurant is closed Mondays, so the traditional start-of-week pasta emergency will have to wait.
For South Tampa diners, the appeal is refreshingly specific: a small Italian restaurant built around one owner’s Palermo roots, another owner’s seasonal philosophy and a menu that gives local pasta a starring role. L’Amorino is not trying to be everything to everyone, which may be exactly why its focused approach stands out.
