Santosuosso's in Medina carries on family tradition of Italian fare | Local Flavor

The family name means a lot at Santosuosso's Italian restaurant in Medina Township.

Proud owner George Santosuosso, 71, opened his establishment in 2003 after growing up in the restaurant business. Early on, he told his father Johnny that working in restaurants was what he loved to do.

As a preteen, he helped his mom and dad run Johnny's Bar in Cleveland, which his father had opened in 1952. His parents next founded Santo's Italian Restaurant in Fairview Park, where George also worked as a teen. Later, George, his brother Raymond and his brother-in-law Tony Raffin ran Santo's together in Middleburg Heights.

Young George was such an avid lover of the family business that when he was a teen, he decided to follow his mother Florence with a measuring cup as she executed each of her dishes by sight. His mission was to write out all of her recipes for posterity's sake and prove that he could replicate them.

Traditional Italian at Santosuosso's

At Santosuosso's in Medina Township, traditional Italian foods reign. Of course, the restaurant's house-made marinara sauce stems from Florence's recipe.

I recently visited the restaurant for the first time with my husband, Steve, and daughter, Anna. The atmosphere was inviting with low lighting, a comfy booth and a beautiful, hand-painted mural adorning the opposite dining room walls. The mural, created by Patricia Harding, is inspired by Tuscan scenes bordered by the sea.

Harding also created a Lake Como-inspired mural in a private party room and trompe l'oeil (optical illusion) paintings in the restaurant's entrance and bar, creating the look of peeling plaster with brick underneath. She did the murals in sections, with the whole project taking about three and a half years.

Local flavor: Guido's in Ravenna serves fresh, house-made Italian dishes that are (shh!) better than mom's

What we had for dinner at Santosuosso's

To start our dinner, we enjoyed two appetizers featuring the house marinara: the stuffed banana peppers ($12.50) and the calamari ($13). The big banana peppers were stuffed with Italian sausage that had a nice spiciness, smothered in marinara and melted provolone.

We also shared large rings of lightly fried calamari that came with marinara sauce for dipping.

Both went nicely with a glass of Sangiovese wine that Steve ordered for $8.

For his entree, he ordered cavatelli with house tomato sauce and meatballs ($18.50). The cavatelli tasted so fresh and the meatballs were large and juicy.

I was excited to dine on a veal entree, a treat I don't get very often. I chose the veal marsala ($23), which had several smaller, floured cutlets sauteed with mushrooms and shallots in a sweet marsala wine sauce, served over spaghetti. The veal was rich and flavorful and the delicious marsala sauce coated the noodles to make them sweet.

Both of our entrees came with a soup or salad, so Steve and I both chose salad.

Anna, normally a pasta hound, went in a different direction. She ordered an antipasto dinner salad with ham, salami, pepperoni, tomatoes, cucumber, cici beans (chickpeas) and pepperoncini with Italian dressing.

"The pepperoni is cooked and crunchy," she said. "It's a good variety of meat."

More Santosuosso's menu choices

This restaurant's large menu offers appetizers; soups, including Italian wedding soup; eight salads; a variety of chicken and veal dishes; seafood; steak; pork chops; a dozen pastas; pizzas including a homemade, gluten-free cauliflower crust; calzones; sandwiches and subs.

Chicken parmesan and Chicken George are two of Santosuosso's top sellers.

There's more in the Santosuosso name

For several menu choices, it's all in the name. Or, in this case, plays on the name. That includes the Chicken or Veal Suosso, both made with lightly breaded cutlets pan sauteed with onion and caper in lemon and white wine, served over spaghetti.

Or the Chicken Santo, lightly breaded and sauteed with mushroom, shallots and garlic in homemade alfredo toast and tossed with fettuccine. And top-selling Chicken George is flour-dusted cutlets sauteed with mushrooms in a butter sauce, served with a potato and fresh vegetable.

Dessert tops it all off at Santosuosso's

Finally, as the three of us shared a generous slice of lemon mascarpone cake ($7), I indulged in several bites of the dessert's deliciously light mascarpone and wonderful lemon flavor.

"This is so damn good I wanna cry," I told my family.

I kid you not.

"Super lemony and super light and airy," the more refined Steve said.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Restaurant: Santosuosso's

Address: 3725 Medina Road, Medina Township

Hours: 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, closed Sunday

Reservations: Recommended

Information: santosuossos.com or 330-764-9888

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Santosuosso's does traditional Italian food right in Medina Township