Tiny Italian eatery Parm Pasta & Sandwich Co. will open on Cherokee

Chalk up another restaurant for Cherokee Street. As reported by the Riverfront Times, Parm Pasta & Sandwich Co. is scheduled to open its doors this week at 2619½ Cherokee St., in the original Teatopia space.

“We’re shooting (to open) either Jan. 15 or 16,” said Sal D’Ippolito, who owns the shop with his daughter, Diane Maijala.

By his count, D’Ippolito has around 40 years in the restaurant industry, including six years at Cunettos, which is owned by his family, as well as 12 years at his own place, Salvatore’s Casa di Pasta in Lafayette Square. Maijala has spent her career in the medical field and Parm is her first official restaurant gig, though she grew up spending a lot of time in her family’s eateries.

“I’ve always been interested (in the industry),” Maijala said. “I’ve always wanted to do this, and this is the time.”

Parm will have a menu of six hot and cold sandwiches, including a meatball sub, an eggplant parm and a salsiccia sandwich featuring house-made sausage. Other menu items will include mostaccioli with meat sauce plus  daily pasta and soup specials, an Italian salad, chili and homemade cannolis. Maija said all of the dishes are her father’s creations.

“It’s all his recipes,” she said. “His pasta, his meatballs, his salsiccia, everything.”

Due to the diminutive size of the spot, Parm will be a carry-out only affair, according to D’Ippolito. Maijala said the days and hours of operation are still a work in progress, but added Parm will be open Tuesday through Saturday starting at 11 a.m.

Matt Sorrell is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.