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Antone’s Piadini (chicken and greens in a wrap.)

ANTONE’S BOASTS ITS COMFORT FOOD AND ITALIAN FARE

Antone's serves comfort food with Italian fare.

Tasting pride & passion

Comfort food and Italian fare

BOARDMAN

11By the time he was 13, he had advanced from washing dishes to cooking for customers as he learned how to prepare his mother’s favorite recipes.

“My mom was known for her cooking,” Scianna said. “She had a passion for making great food for her family and friends. She loved to cook for big groups of people, and she would always feed anyone who came to visit. People always told her she should open a restaurant.”

In 1961 Scianna’s mother, Helen Scianna Gianfrancesco, did just that by opening Antone’s Restaurant on Market Street in Youngstown.

Jump ahead to 2014, and that original mom-and-pop business has grown into a renowned Mahoning Valley restaurant and catering business known for its made-from-scratch original family recipes, homemade sauces, dressings, pastas and meatballs.

“Our food is not processed — it’s made from scratch. It’s always fresh,” Scianna said. “I learned not just technique from my mom but also quality, and I have been doing things the way my mom taught me since I took over in 1970.”

Although Italian food dominates the menu, Antone’s (both the Italian grille and the banquet centre) serves what Scianna calls “comfort food” in addition to traditional Italian fare.

“We do stuffed chicken breast and beef brisket sandwiches and pork loins and ribs and apple pie,” he said. “We’ve also developed recipes from international influences including Greek, Indian and Chinese in addition to the dishes we’re known for.”

While visiting Antone’s Italian Grille I sampled a bevy of these signature dishes and was thoroughly impressed by the quality and deliciousness of everything I tasted.

I started out by trying two of the restaurant’s most well-known salads: the Antone’s Salad and Oscar’s Salad.

The Antone’s salad features iceberg and romaine drizzled with tangy Italian dressing and tossed with tuna fish, salami, romano and mozzarella cheeses. It’s a big salad — a meal in itself if one chooses — but the crisp, refreshing lettuce and hearty slivers of meat make it a tantalizing segue way to dinner.

Oscar’s salad is one of the most amazing salads I’ve ever tasted with its striking mix of tangy and sweet. It consists of romaine and mesclun greens, a generous smattering of crunchy, sugary carmelized Kahlua walnuts, red onions, Gorgonzola cheese and strawberry-raspberry liqueur vinaigrette. The different flavors join to complement one another blissfully with each bite.

Antone’s fried cheese appetizer, which Scianna called the restaurant’s No. 1 appetizer, features fried mozzarella smothered in his mom’s signature marinara sauce. One bite is the ideal marriage of crunchy, creamy and zesty.

Mom’s tomato sauce happens to be a staple in many of the restaurant’s most celebrated entrees.

The braciole, which is a house specialty, is a tender sirloin steak rolled with Romano and Italian bread crumbs and saut ed and baked in the homemade sauce. The meat is so tender it practically melts in your mouth. Mine was served on a bed of pasta and smothered in that delicious red sauce.

Chicken parmigiana has always been one of my favorite meals, and Antone’s serves up the best I’ve ever tasted. The breading is perfectly crisp, the chicken breast is perfectly juicy and tender and the zesty marinara crowns the meal with just the right amount of tang.

Antone’s is also known for an entree called the kitchen sink — thus named because the dish includes a whimsical mix of fried cheese topped with cavatelli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, sausage, meatballs and, of course, marinara sauce. This is the ideal dish for folks with a hearty appetite who crave a little bit of everything.

The traditional lasagna with its hearty layers of ground beef and ricotta cheese and tomato sauce (of course) is filling and delicious.

Moving away from the red sauce for a bit I sampled a grilled wrap — which Scianna called a piadina — that is stuffed with white meat chicken and sauteed romaine lettuce. The sauteed romaine is an unexpected delight. Scianna said many people find traditional Italian greens bitter, but the romaine is never bitter and is a subtle, complementary pairing alongside the chicken.

Speaking of chicken, the chicken broccolini features strips of chicken and tender broccoli florets in a buttery garlic sauce served over a bed of pasta. It is superb.

The tortellini with pink vodka sauce is equally superb.

One of the last entrees I sampled was a grilled pizza — a pizza that was as beautiful to taste as it was to behold with its slices decorated carefully with basil leaves and thinly sliced tomatoes.

For dessert I enjoyed bites of a fluffy tiramisu, a yummy banana chocolate bread pudding and a delicate apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream that would put any Amish restaurant to shame.

As with everything else, the desserts at Antone’s are made fresh and made from scratch.

There’s not enough space to mention all of the savory items on Antone’s extensive menu. Hors d’oeuvres, seafood, chicken, sandwiches, pasta, salads, potatoes — one visit simply isn’t enough. Antone’s is the kind of place one needs to visit repeatedly for a palate-pleasing experience every time.

“My mom always believed that if you have great food, great service and a clean restaurant you can be successful,” Scianna said. “Everything my mom did, she did with pride.”

Whether you’re in search of comfort food or authentic Italian fare, that pride and passion for great food lives on in every meal served at Antone’s.

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