Italian cuisine has grown in popularity among Indians and iconic dishes, such as pizzas and pastas have become staples at most restaurants and cafes. Over the last two decades, Italian cuisine has progressed from a niche appealing to very few people to becoming a largely accepted cuisine and one of the top three in the country. Italian food has been well accepted and flourished enough to be easily available in Italian restaurants that serve classic Italian dishes as well as specialty restaurants that focus on exotic and regional specialties.

Little Italy has been the pioneer of a fine dining Italian cuisine chain in India, founded by Raj Mehta in 1989 when Italian food was new to the country. Since then, Raj Mehta has been successfully spearheading and taking the brand to newer heights. In the business for the past three decades, consistency, novelty, and outstanding hospitality have been the hallmarks of Little Italy's success. “The core philosophy and purpose for us is to spread love of Italian food and to grow the Italian food culture in India", says Amrut Mehta, Director at Little Italy.

Little Italy is a vegetarian restaurant that serves highquality, authentic Italian food with a unique and innovative range of menus that comprises vegan, gluten-free, and healthy options in addition to classic Italian meals and some of the restaurant's signature dishes. “One of the things in which we take pride, besides our food, is our hospitality. We believe in going the extra mile for our customers with personalized service and warm hospitality. We've seen different

generations come in and dine with us, customers who first entered the restaurant as kids now visit us with their wives and kids. It’s been an honour to be a part of the local community in India and a play a small role at their special occasions and even in their daily lives", adds Amrut.

Little Italy has branches across the country and has multiple corporate partnerships too. The firm conducts corporate partnerships with a number of companies, working with them collaboratively to create symbiotic value. Little Italy works actively alongside top corporate companies helping them host events and serve their clients, fueling growth, whether they are local organizations like the Pinnacle Group, Suzlon and Panchsheel, or multinational companies like Deutsche Bank, BMW, Volkswagen, and Mercedes Benz.

In business for the past three decades, consistency, novelty and hospitality have been the hallmarks of Little Italy’s success

The Success Saga
This food chain has grown multifold since its inception in 1989 by the virtue of its consistency in the standardized and highquality food and ingenuity. Since then, the firm has been able to develop a number of recipes, which have become signature dishes and favorites, while also becoming an integral part of the Italian food culture savored in the country. Little Italy started franchising in 2003 opening outlets in major cities in India like Bangalore, Jaipur, Chennai, Kolkata, and others. Currently, Little Italy is the fastest growing Italian chain in India with 50 restaurants across the nation as well as three outlets in Dubai. In recent years the company has launched multiple brands keeping up with the trends in the market such as Acasa Gourmet grocery brand, Senoritas Mexican kitchen- Delivery concept, and Piazza an exciting new pizza QSR.

Little Italy Group is focusing on rapidly expanding Piazza. Our vision is to revolutionize the pizza market in India by introducing a much better pizza product and creating an exciting pizza experience for consumers. Piazza works on a quick to scale model which is easily scalable and has great returns for franchisees at a significantly lower investment model. Currently operating in five locations in Pune, and delivering in over 25 locations PAN India the company plans on opening 100 locations in next two years. Piazza is present in prominent locations like malls, high streets, movie theatres and airports.

While it continues to forge ahead and reach new heights, Little Italy is also entering the UK market this year with the first restaurant in London. They are also looking at another 10 restaurants in the Middle East, five more in the UK, and 10 more in India over the next 2-3 years.