Fort Mill is getting a new Italian restaurant with familiar tastes of NY pizza
Fans of the former Mama’s Pizza & Pasta in Indian Land won’t have to wait much longer for another helping of traditional Italian food, this time in Fort Mill.
Sal Vindigni, who owned of the Italian spot in Indian Land’s Publix shopping center that closed two years ago, is about four weeks from opening Mama Lina’s Pizza & Pasta. It’ll go in a 1344 S.C. 160 East, suite 105 central storefront at the newest strip shopping part of Avery Plaza, at S.C. 160 and Springfield Parkway.
“We specialize in pizza,” Vindigni said. “A lot of people know us in Indian Land.”
The native Italian has owned butcher shops and restaurants in the region, prior to a 10-year run in Indian Land. He’s had similar North Carolina locations in Mint Hill, Huntersville and Matthews.
“We came from Long Island, and I’ve opened up four places between North Carolina and South Carolina,” Vindigni said. “We’ve been here about 20 years.”
His son George, who went to culinary school in North Carolina, will join the team at Mama Lina’s.
The new spot will have an area for pizza and takeout, plus a dining room offering classic Italian dishes and weekly specials. It’ll be similar to the former Indian Land menu that had New York thin crust, white, square and gourmet pizza options, hot and cold subs, calzones and stromboli.
The newly built section of Avery Plaza sits between a Food Lion shopping center and a QuikTrip gas station. In addition to growth throughout Fort Mill, the shopping center is just south of a new senior living neighborhood that’s under construction, with more than 500 homes.
Mama Lina’s will share the strip mall with the already opened Dunkin’ Donuts, an animal hospital, a dentist and a tutoring business. Together, Avery Plaza has more than 60,000 square feet of commercial space. Mama Lina’s will take up more than 2,700 square feet.
Mama Lina’s will join a crowded pizza scene in Fort Mill, though many of the existing spots in town are in the Kingsley and Baxter area, or north of it. Visit York County lists 11 Fort Mill pizza places, but only Emilio’s Pizza Kitchen on Fort Mill Parkway and Toppers Pizza on North Dobys Bridge Road are located south of U.S. 21 Bypass. Mama Lina’s would become the easternmost spot.
For Italian dining that’s less pizza-focused, there’s also Salmeri’s Italian Kitchen on Mercantile Place — although it does offer smaller pizzas — and Rizzo’s Spaghetti House, which has a Fort Mill address but is in Indian Land.
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Fort Mill is getting a new Italian restaurant with familiar tastes of NY pizza."
