Located in Inman Park, family-owned restaurant Amore e Amore combines themed decorations with authentic Italian cuisine.

The restaurant is owned by Giovanni Ferro and his wife Gale Parker. Ferro opened the restaurant with the goal of embracing his Italian culture through the food, as well as creating a family-friendly atmosphere. 

“When you come here, you get an authentic delicious meal,” Marni Schnapper Parker’s daughter and manager. said. ”But we are also a family-run establishment, so we promote family time, which is very special to us, so we celebrate every day here.”

The staff refers to Parker as “Mama Gale” because of how she treats her employees like family. Parker said she prioritizes her staff’s happiness and wellbeing.

“You have to acknowledge that it is not an easy task to service table after table, day after day, week after week [and] month after month,” Parker said. “But if you treat your people like family, and you look after them when they are sick and make sure they have vacation, and if their family is ill that you are cooperative with the situation, you develop a loyalty amongst each other.”

Schnapper started working at the restaurant when she was 15 years old. She said she has grown up there, making it feel like another home.

“Working here was one of my first restaurant jobs, and it  was something I did on the weekends when I was in high school, and then when I got out of school, I started working more full time,” Schnapper said. “It’s really nice to work with my family because it makes it not feel like work. It just makes it feel like you’re hanging with your family, and you’re busy when you’re doing it.”

Parker is in charge of the design aspect of the restaurant and aims to make the themes feel inviting and family friendly.

“I use inspiration from my family,” Parker said. “This means I design things that would be amusing to my daughter and son when they were young. We built the restaurant to match the people that come to it.”

Currently, the restaurant is featuring a theme called “Under The Big Top,” based on the world’s largest acrobatic show, Cirque du Soleil, which is returning to Atlanta in August. Along with circus-themed decorations, the restaurant includes popcorn and cotton candy machines throughout.

“Our goal is to always focus on incorporating new fun ideas that will entertain and leave people walking out the door with a smile on their face,” Parker said. 

The restaurant’s theme typically changes every season or holiday. In the past, they have featured designs such as “Alice in Wonderland” and “Harry Potter.” Schnapper said the themes have helped grow the business through social media promotion.

“I think that with the new ways businesses go viral on social media, the attraction of the photo has really been good for us because it draws people in,” Schnapper said. “But when people get here, they realize that it’s not just a beautiful photo; it’s also an experience.”

Around the restaurant, there are photographs of different people hung up on the walls. Bartender Erika Ordiz said the incorporation of these pictures throughout the space further displays the family culture.

“The portraits are either someone from their family or someone of significance that either comes here or has dined with us,” Ordiz said. “It really shows the history that this place has.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant was named Il Localino. The restaurant was rebranded as Amore e Amore in a partial effort to introduce new themes and attract new customers. Parker said they wanted to incorporate a more interesting dining experience to draw more people in. 

“In this post-Covid environment, people were so starved for stimulation that having dinner being an experience is definitely more pleasing to them,” Parker said.

Junior Alexia Davis said she remembers the restaurant more for the experience than just the food. 

“The food was delicious, but really the best part of eating there was how it made me feel,” Davis said. “Everyone there was nice and happy, and it felt like one big party.”

Parker said the staff hopes to continue entertaining and serving the community, and they put a lot of effort into the restaurant to make customers feel at home.

“I work every day with the team and my husband to curate new ideas for themes and menu items to keep the restaurant constantly changing,” Parker said. “The restaurant to us is almost like another child. It needs to be fed, nurtured, taken care of, cleaned [and] checked on around the clock. It’s a 24/7 thing. We hope to keep pleasing customers and making a lasting impression on the community.”