A Smyrna Georgia restaurant has closed after 42 years. Scalini’s Italian Restaurant served classic, old-school Italian dishes, but was probably best known for its eggplant parmesan, a dish said to help induce labor for mothers close to or past their due dates.
… A statement posted to Scalini’s Facebook page indicates the restaurant closed following dinner service on Sunday (August 7). No reason was provided for the closure, but replies by the restaurant to questions regarding its sudden closure suggest part of the decision may be due to a lack of employees.
… Opened in 1980 by John Bogino, Scalini’s became famous for the fabled eggplant parmesan and the claims it hastened labor for those who ate the dish during the latter days of their pregnancy. The lore surrounding Scalini’s eggplant parmesan eventually led the restaurant to compile a wall of photographs — affectionately known as the “Baby Eggplant Club” — filled with hundreds of pictures of infants supposedly born because their mothers had eaten the eggplant parmesan within hours or days of giving birth.
Here's what happened when two local pregnant reporters ate there....