Mamma mia! Five more fast food Italian restaurants to open in the Midlands

There’s about to be a whole lot more spaghetti in the Midlands’ collective stomach.

Fazoli’s, the fast-casual Italian restaurant chain you may be familiar with from its Columbiana Circle and Dentsville locations, is expanding.

And that means more bowls of freshly prepared chicken fettuccine alfredo, baked lasagna, creamy basil chicken penne, pizza, salads and sandwiches.

Fazoli’s signed a deal with Impact Hospitality group this month, and it has big plans: five new locations in the Columbia area in the next four to five years.

“Besides being one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, the demographics and demand for high quality Italian food at a great value is strong,” said Mike Lokhandwala, the franchisee who will be leading the project.

Lokhandwala said the aim is to open the first of the five restaurants in the Midlands as early as 2019. The two existing locations will continue operating.

Fazoli’s, which is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, runs 220 restaurants in 28 states. The first location opened in 1988.

This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 1:52 PM.