Italian flags sway outside of businesses, church bells from the Holy Rosary Catholic Church chime, the smells of freshly cooked Italian cuisines fill the air, and touches of green, white, and red can be found everywhere. If you squint your eyes, you may mistake this scene for New York’s Little Italy.
However, these sites and sounds belong to Cleveland’s Little Italy, a neighborhood Italian immigrants founded in the late 19th century along Mayfield Road.
Although Cleveland isn’t on everyone’s radar, it was on renowned chef Hector Boiardi’s radar. Maybe you know him better as Chef Boyardee. In 1924, after working on the culinary staff at New York’s Plaza Hotel and as head chef at The Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, Boiardi opened his restaurant Il Giardino d’Italia. The restaurant quickly became a hit, leading Boiardi to future success.
Boiardi’s success should be an indicator that Cleveland is a hotspot for Italian cuisine
Having grown up near Cleveland and frequented these establishments, here are my personal recommendations for visitors and locals.
It's difficult to recommend a better place to kick off one’s Little Italy dining experience.
For appetizers, you can’t go wrong with the crispy, crunchy fried calamari, served with lemons and a side of marinara sauce, or the cold antipasto platter consisting of dry sausage, fontinella cheese, roasted red peppers, green and black olives, and prosciutto. The antipasto platter has something everyone will enjoy.
Although caesar salad is a basic salad, Angelo’s serves a homemade caesar dressing over crisp romaine lettuce tossed with pecorino romano cheese and croutons, making all the difference. The thin dressing doesn’t overpower the cheese or leave the lettuce drowning in it.
If you’re ordering the salad as an entree, I would recommend ordering it with salmon.
As a kid, spaghetti and meatballs was my pasta of choice. Since my tastebuds have evolved, I now prefer the sautéed jumbo shrimp pasta. The pasta comes with sautéed garlic, tomatoes and olive oil tossed with linguine or it can be sauteed with fresh tomatoes, basil and cream sauce. I prefer light sauce, so I ordered the dish that way.
For seafood lovers, the sautéed jumbo shrimp is a must-order. Not only are you receiving decently sized shrimp, but also they don’t scampi on the shrimp, pun intended.
Hopefully, you save room for dessert because you don’t want to miss out on Angelo’s cannolis, tiramisu, limoncello flute or spumoni bomba. Angelo’s cannoli have a smooth, creamy and irresistible filling. Meanwhile, the tiramisu has a classic Italian flavor with light mascarpone taste.
I’m not the biggest fan of limoncello, but the limoncello flute, which comes with Sicilian gelato swirled with limoncello sauce, tastes like an elevated lemon iced, with a lemon flavor that isn't too overpowering.
The spumoni bomba was one of my first introductions to spumoni, and it did not disappoint. The strawberry, pistachio and chocolate gelatos topped with chocolate and white chocolate doesn’t taste artificial in the slightest and have a rich gelato texture.
Looking for an espresso or Italian pastries? Look no further than Presti’s Bakery & Cafè. Inside Presti’s, you’ll find two cases filled with Italian pastries, as well as some American desserts like jumbo chocolate chip cookies.
Since 1903, the bakery and cafe has been serving authentic Sicilian recipes, making it Cleveland’s oldest bakery, according to its website.
Depending on the time of year, you can also purchase a cup of gelato or lemon ice. Its two dessert cases will also rotate different staples in and out, depending on the season. Lamb and chick cakes, as well as lemon biscotti shaped like baskets with hard boiled eggs, fill the cases during Easter time.
Because my family often frequents Presti’s, we’ve discovered you can’t go wrong with the cannoli, amaretto lobster tails, or sfogliatelle, fig cookies and crème brûlée.
Before Dunkin was serving tiramisu coffee, Presti’s did it first. My Presti’s tiramisu iced latte had a more chocolatey taste but also the creaminess of mascarpone.
Presti’s also offers more than coffee and desserts, serving fresh deli salads, pizza, stromboli and other lunch and dinner options.
Rosso Gelato
No better way to end a day or night out in Little Italy with some gelato, and Rosso, at the end of Mayfield Road, is the perfect destination to do so.
Rosso offers customers over 20 flavors of gelato, fresh brewed coffee and espresso. Because there are endless options, you can sample whichever flavor catches your eye.
For me, Rosso passed the mound test, with mounds of gelato that were neither too high nor too brightly colored.
For those unfamiliar with the mound test, high mounds can indicate the gelato was whisked too much, filling it with air and giving the impression that the container is piled high with gelato when it isn't. Vibrate colors, especially in banana, pistachio and mint gelatos, can signal that dye was added.
Although I enjoyed the tangy taste of its lemon gelato, I ultimately settled on its cookies-and-cream gelato, which was the perfect treat for a hot day.
Serving authentic Italian dishes, desserts and gelato flavors, Cleveland’s Little Italy should be on everyone’s bucket list.
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