Taste Of The Town: Mimi's Ravioli Brings Slice Of Italy To Hollywood

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HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) -- From homemade ravioli coming out "I Love Lucy" conveyor belt-style, to freshly made pizzas, cannolis, breads, cheeses and so much more, Mimi's Ravioli off Johnson Street in Hollywood has it all.

"Mimi's Ravioli is your local family bakery, pasta manufacturer. All Italian food," said Anthony Billisi, one of the owners. "We do everything from different sauces, pastas and breads. We make the best homemade mozzarella. What we don't produce on our own, we import directly from Italy."

The Billisi family is what makes this home-grown market so charming and authentic.

Mom, Linda, works with customers while Dad, Frank, sons Frank, Jr. and Anthony, work side by side six days a week.

"It has it moments," Anthony said laughing, "but how many people get to spend every day with their family? We're a close-knit family."

The emphasis, again, is that almost everything is made on the premises, like the mozarella, or as they say "mozarelle."

"That's something we're known and famous for," Anthony said. "You don't find that in many places."

For the third year in a row, Mimi's will participate in this week's South Beach Wine and Food Festival. They'll be back at the Italian Bites event this year, serving up their famous butternut squash ravioli.

"These are our homemade butternut squash ravioli. The shell is made with pumpkin dough and the inside has a butternut squash filling," Anthony explained, showing off the puffy pasta to CBS4's Lisa Petrillo.

"Last year, I brought 700 ravioli and I ran out when there was 20 minutes left," he said laughing.

Petrillo says, "I have never had a ravioli like this. There's a sweetness of the butternut squash. The consistency of the ravioli itself is perfectly done and then the cream sauce is to die for."

At Mimi's, they will pack you up tonight's dinner or cater your party. An antipasti platter with prosciutto, Parmesan cheese, mortadello ham, olives and homemade ciabatta toast makes for quite the party presentation.

"This is beyond good," Petrillo continues. "The prosciutto is so light and fresh. The Parmesan is perfect and the crunch with the bread? Hello! I'm going to work on this all day."

And what's the secret to their homemade cannolis? The crème is piped in fresh before your eyes, not pre-packaged.

Mimi's Ravioli is opened 6 days a week and closed on Mondays. For more, visit: www.mimisravioli.com