Tinseltown Treasure: A Fond Farewell To Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano

While much attention has been paid to the upcoming closure of Muppet*Vision 3D, today we are bidding a fond farewell to an establishment that has operated at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for 35 years.

Of course, I am talking about Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, which permanently closed last weekend to make way for the upcoming Monstropolis land.

Never the most popular attraction at Hollywood Studios, Mama Melrose’s was an overlooked eatery tucked away in a corner of the park. Due to its location, many missed out on one of the most immersive restaurants the Studios had to offer.

So, before we say goodbye, I want to look back at the story of Mama Melrose’s one last time.

Mama Melrose’s Was Not Disney’s Original Plan

While Mama Melrose’s would eventually open on September 26, 1991, the restaurant’s genesis goes back even further.

In 1989, Disney was closing in on deal with Jim Henson to acquire the Muppets. As part of the deal, Henson would serve as a creative consultant at Disney, and his beloved troupe of misfits would be integrated into the Disney parks.

Jim Henson and the cast of Muppet*Vision 3D. Photo: Disney

Specifically, Disney and Henson had plans to create a Muppet Studio area at the Disney-MGM Studios. This land would have consisted of the Great Muppet Move Ride, Muppet*Vision 3D, and a signature restaurant — The Great Gonzo’s Pizza Pandemonium Parlor.

Photo: Disney Institute (via Muppet Wiki)

The planned eatery would have been operated by Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat, while the Swedish Chef ran the kitchen. Guests dining at The Great Gonzo’s would also have been immersed in a larger Muppet story.

Photo: Muppet Wiki

When enjoying their meal, diners would have heard or seen Gonzo and Camilla stuck in the air ducts overhead, the Swedish Chef working in the kitchen where food fights spontaneously occur, and Rizzo and his friends delivering meals on a small model train.

Photo: Muppet Wiki

Unfortunately, the restaurant would never come to fruition. With the tragic passing of Jim Henson in 1990, Disney’s acquisition of the Muppets fell through. Subsequently, plans for the Muppet Studios land were drastically cut back, with only Muppet*Vision 3D and the small Muppet Courtyard opening.

Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano Is Born

With the Muppet’s out of the picture, Imagineers decided to take a more traditional approach with the area’s restaurant. Leaning into the Disney-MGM Studios Hollywood theme, they initially planned on creating an Annette Funicello restaurant.

Photo: E82 on X

When Disney executives protested that Funicello was not popular enough for her own restaurant, Imagineers created a fictional character to host the eatery, and Mama Melrose was born.

To introduce guests to the fictional proprietor, Disney created an elaborate backstory for the character.

The Restaurant’s Official Backstory

According to this official story (as relayed by Jim Korkis), Mama Melrose was a young girl in a small Sicilian village who fell in love with the magic of Hollywood while working in her father’s restaurant.

After her father shared his secret recipes with the young girl, she left for America and pursued a movie career. Initially, she was a “stand-in for actresses with names like Gina, Sophia, and Anna.”

While she waited with other extras between scenes, the young girl cooked Italian dishes with a splash of California flavor. She was so big-hearted that she even shared meals with her starving actor friends.

Realizing that her dreams of being a movie star would not come true, she opened her own Italian restaurant. The eatery provided meals for Hollywood actors, producers, and directors. Because the woman’s flamboyant approach to life reminded the Hollywood studio moguls of the eccentric Melrose Avenue, she was dubbed Mama Melrose.

Photo: The MickeyWiki on X

The name fit so well that to this day, no one can remember what her actual name might have been.

“Where Italy Meets California in the Heart of the Backlot”

When the establishment opened, Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano became known as the place “where Italy meets California in the heart of the backlot.”

Located on what was then known as New York Street, Mama Melrose opened her restaurant in a Hollywood warehouse with a facade that movie studios used when shooting films based in New York’s Little Italy.

Despite Mama and her friends’ best efforts to decorate the restaurant’s interior, its former use as a warehouse was easily identifiable to diners due to the utilitarian light fixtures, brick walls covered with graffiti, and the wear and tear on the floorboards.

Bye, Mama Melrose’s!

Initially, Mama decorated the restaurant with mementos from her time in Hollywood and items that reminded her of her family in Italy. Eventually, however, her friends in Hollywood would also contribute decor.

A Remnant of the Disney-MGM Studios

For example, in Mama Melrose’s lobby, guests could find a wall labeled “Legends of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.”

Here, headshots of various celebrities were found. Initially, the photos were produced for the Disney-MGM Studios “Star of the Day.”

For those who don’t know, during the Studios’ first year of operation, the park welcomed a new celebrity almost daily. In a bit of good old-fashioned Hollywood pageantry, the Star of the Day would take part in a motorcade down Hollywood Boulevard.

Jane Powell cruising down Hollywood Boulevard. Photo: Laughing Place

From there, the celebrity would sometimes head to a handprint ceremony in front of the Chinese Theater or participate in a Star Conversation in the Studios’ original Theater of the Stars. There, they would discuss their career and take questions from the audience.

Guests attending the Star Conversation were given portrait cards with ample white space beneath the headshot. Theoretically, they could get the Star of the Day’s autograph and create a memorable souvenir.

Photo: Ebay

These same portrait cards were used for the headshots in Mama Melrose’s. Photos of various celebrities visiting the Studios were also scattered throughout the restaurant’s dining rooms.

A Who’s Who of Stars

Later, long after the Star of the Day festivities had ceased, newer celebrities were added to the lobby. These included Ellen Pompeo, Dove Cameron, and Cameron Boyce.

Below is a list of all 81 headshots that could be found in Mama Melrose’s when the restaurant closed, as compiled by WDWMagic user MuddyRivers.

Another Piece of the Disney-MGM Studios Is Gone

While Mama Melrose’s occasionally altered its menu, the restaurant remained largely unchanged from its opening in 1991 until it closed last weekend.

Visiting the restaurant was like traveling to the past. It transported guests to a time when Disney eateries were intricately themed, the stars came out at the Disney-MGM Studios, and the park exuded the Hollywood that never was but always will be.

Change at Disney World is inevitable, and few will decry the loss of Mama Melrose’s. I, however, will miss my Italian dinners surrounded by charming decor and memories of what the Disney-MGM Studios once stood for.

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