A pasta bowl from Sportelli’s. The bowl was a “Nonna’s Special,” one of the pre-made bowls on the menu. (Mallory Mailloux)
Sportelli’s opened in late October 2025 on University Ave in Provo.
This unique fast-casual Italian restaurant offers authentic Italian dishes at an affordable price. The restaurant was created by Paul Mattox and Iain Roubian, two best friends and business partners with extensive experience in the restaurant industry. They drew from Roubian’s Italian American heritage to create a menu of pastas, salads, piadinas and more, ranging from $10 to $16.50 a dish.
The menu offers several pre-made options, but customers can also customize their order by walking through the line and selecting exactly which ingredients they want while their food is assembled in front of them.
A Sportelli’s employee assembling the “Nonna’s Special” pasta bowl. This bowl can be purchased for $14.75. (Mallory Mailloux)
“You get to have pasta exactly the way you want it,” Roubian said. “A lot of people come in here and they’re kind of excited about that idea.”
The owners of Sportelli’s also take pride in their ingredients, using family recipes to make everything from scratch.
“Sportelli’s is actually a maiden name of (Roubian’s) grandma,” Mattox said. “That’s where we got the name for the restaurant.”
Roubian mentioned his homemade meatballs, pasta and garlic bread as some of the items he is most proud of.
“Our Sportelli bread is probably the best garlic bread you’ve ever had. I could say that with confidence,” Roubian said.
Main entrée prices start at $10 and range up to $16.50.
“We’re trying to give what you would find at a more expensive restaurant at a more reasonable price point,” Mattox said.
The owners said they have seen great responses from customers so far.
“We’ve had people who have been here each week, like 10 times so far,” Mattox said. “They’re the ones coming up to us telling us, ‘Hey, this is my 10th time here. I love it.’ And, I mean, that’s a surprise because usually restaurants don’t get that loyal of a following until a little bit later on.”
Dana Allen, a student in Provo, has been a customer at the new restaurant.
“I was counting down the days til they opened,” Allen said. “The food is so good, and you get such a big portion for what you pay.”
Part of the dining area at Sportelli’s. Various pasta-related art is displayed on the walls throughout the restaurant. (Mallory Mailloux)
Even though things have been going well, Mattox and Roubian still have big, new ideas for the restaurant.
“Come spring, we’re going to have a wonderful, beautiful patio,” Roubian said. “We’re also going to invite students to possibly do live music. So, we have a lot of wonderful things that we’re trying to bring to the community.”
They also said Sportelli’s will be open for 24 hours on the Fourth of July, and it will have off-menu items that day.
“We really pride ourselves on the community here, and we want to develop that relationship, especially with BYU,” Roubian said. “Since our population here is majority BYU, it’s just very important to us to create that relationship.”
Sportelli’s is located at 410 N University Ave in Provo, and their Instagram is @sportellispasta.
Dining and Cooking