New Lake Norman restaurant offers NY-style pizza, eggplant parm + more

Mari Pressley
·2 min read

Sandy Dobbs and Marchall Donnes, a husband-and-wife duo, moved into Mattiello’s former location in Lake Norman, officially opening Marchello’s Neighborhood Italian on July 30.

At the Denver space once occupied by Mattiellos, which closed in June, Dobbs and Donnes are coming in with decades of restaurant experience. Donnes, a chef-owner of 25 years in New York, and Dobbs, who has spent 25 years managing and bartending, have turned their long-held dream into reality.

“I always wanted to own my own restaurant,” Dobbs told CharlotteFive. “Just one day we came across this opportunity, and my husband and I spoke and we decided, ‘Let’s do this!’

“This is our dream. He loves cooking. I love working with people, and we decided to do it.”

At Marchellos Neighborhood Italian, the walls are covered with pictures of cinema and music stars.
At Marchellos Neighborhood Italian, the walls are covered with pictures of cinema and music stars.

Aside from featuring beloved dishes like eggplant Parmesan, meatballs and Donnes’ well-known “special sauce that he puts on all those platters,” offerings include a range of classics such as New York-style pizza, calzones and stromboli and more.

“We have a wide-variety of items from Parmesan to chicken dinners, you name it,” Dobbs said.

Marchellos Neighborhood Italian’s staff.
Marchellos Neighborhood Italian’s staff.

Dobbs’s personal favorite is the eggplant Parmesan, which is served with a cup of soup and a house salad, plus an option to add one of its primo sides, such as rigatoni meat sauce, penne ala vodka, sautéed fresh spinach or sautéed string beans.

The menu features a variety of crowd-pleasers, including:

  • Aunt Marie’s Fettuccini Alfredo: Made fresh to order with a classic alfredo cream sauce

  • Rigatoni Tuscano: Italian sausage, sauteed with spinach and white beans in garlic and oil, with crushed red pepper

  • Scallops Casino: Scallops sauteed with bacon, onion, roasted red peppers, white wine and melted mozzarella over a bed of pasta

  • Baked pasta: layered with three cheeses, sauce, beef and sausage

  • Stromboli: Stuffed with pepperoni, sausage and mozzarella

  • Neapolitan pizza: traditional round, thin-crust pizza

  • Chicken Florentine: Grilled chicken breast topped with sautéed spinach and melted mozzarella

Marchellos Neighborhood Italian’s dining room.
Marchellos Neighborhood Italian’s dining room.

And as for the atmosphere, Marchello’s clearly aims to transport guests back to the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. “All our wall art is of stars back in those days, singers, movies that we’ve watched that will trigger memories. We want it to be light, bright and fun and bring excitement,” Dobbs said.

You’ll spot Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, Cher, Prince and several other famous artists up on the walls at Marchellos Neighborhood Italian.
You’ll spot Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, Cher, Prince and several other famous artists up on the walls at Marchellos Neighborhood Italian.

Marchello’s Neighborhood Italian

Location: 133 Cross Center RD, Denver, NC 28037

Cuisine: Italian

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