Taste Over a Century of Italian Tradition at Guarino’s Restaurant

Crossing the threshold of Guarino’s Restaurant feels like stepping back into the heyday of Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood, and that’s just the way owner Scott Phillips wants it. Founded by Sicilian immigrant Vincenzo Guarino in 1918, the place has seen the surrounding neighborhood change dramatically over the decades, and today, it holds the distinction of being the oldest restaurant in Cleveland.

“There were storefronts going up and down the street, and then the families would live above their stores,” Phillips says, “and the Guarinos were no different.”

Guarino’s Restaurant started as a pool hall and tavern, with Vincenzo hosting visitors in the front room and Mary serving dinner to friends and family in the back dining room. Following Vincenzo’s death in 1954, his son Sam took over the restaurant. When Sam died in 1987, his wife Marilyn became business partners with Nancy Phillips. Phillips later sold the restaurant to her son Scott, who has overseen the Cleveland institution with his own son and sister since 2011.

Guarino’s character has been carefully preserved, from the Victorian-style wallpaper in the front room to the original hanging wooden beads that once shielded the bar’s view from the street during Prohibition. The menu reflects that attention to tradition as well. Once featuring dishes like steak, lobster and snails, Phillips has pared it down to Italian favorites, with rotating weekend specials that pay homage to the restaurant’s original offerings. The bestselling item on the menu is the lasagna, which is made using a decades-old recipe. Other favorites include the chicken piccata and the brasciole, a traditional Italian dish of rolled flat steak.

“We’re not trying to be the flashy front end or flashy this and flashy that,” Phillips says. “It’s just what we are, what we’ve always been. I think people like that.” 12309 Mayfield Rd., Cleveland 44106, 216/231-3100, guarinoscleveland.com 

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