Mangia Pizza & Pasta Co

We offer casual Italian and American family-style dining in a comfortable setting, but with a taste and flair you wouldn’t expect to find in your typical neighborhood restaurant.

Mangia Pizza & Pasta Co. is yet another chapter in a family tradition in restaurants that began when Amo and Rose Scotese opened La Cantina in Paw Paw in 1936. Their grandson Emilio Dacoba and his wife Maria, currently part owners of La Cantina with other family members, opened their own restaurant, Mangia, Mangia, in 2008 in downtown Kalamazoo. The downtown restaurant features traditional Italian dining with many of the recipes passed down from Nonna Rosa, as Emilio calls his grandmother. Its name is the admonition of every Italian grandmother to family and friends at her dining table to "Eat, eat!"

Emilio and Maria, however, thought the west side of Kalamazoo was prime for a casual, family restaurant. When the opportunity came in the fall of 2012 to purchase the Mi Ranchito restaurant building on 9th Street, Mangia Pizza & Pasta was born. The rustic, stucco interior of the former Mexican restaurant fell right in line with their plans to transform it into an Italian style cantina with a casual atmosphere. To go along with the casual atmosphere, MP&P has a beautiful outdoor patio off the bar.