Salvatore's Restaurant

For John's birthday dinner, we went to Muscatine, Iowa to eat at his favorite little Italian Restaurant, run by the Vitale family.  John LOVES talking to Reno and his son Claudio -- and I was sorry I didn't take a picture of them...

When I went to their website -- I was thrilled to read their story:(and pull two wonderful pictures of them)

Reno Vitale and his wife Enza and family moved from southern Italy to southern Illinois in 1970. There Reno with the help of his family and his mother Antonietta’s recipes operated a successful small town pizzeria called “Roma’s Pizza” and raised a family there.

In 1983 with Claudio off to college; Reno sold his business and moved back to Italy with his wife Enza. After a couple of years he realized his love for the States and with Antonella eager to come back, settled in Muscatine.

Reno created his adventure in Muscatine and called it Roma’s Pizza. It was located at 203 W 2ndSt and with the help of his family, soon Roma’s became a successful pizzeria.

In 1993 Roma’s moved to its current location at 313 E 2nd St and Reno gave Claudio his blessings to make the new adventure as successful as possible without ever forgetting family values. Roma’s becomes Salvatore’s Ristorante. The family presided the business for the longest time and currently Claudio operates Salvatore’s Ristorante.

Claudio, and his father, Reno.

If you visit Salvatore’s, you will still enjoy the presence of Reno at the age of 81. He oversees his oldest son and wife daily making sure his recipes don’t get altered. He is there to make sure the waitresses and cooks start their day well, he will even give the young staff his advice on how to live life responsibly and with value. Everyone enjoys to see him and if is gone for whatever reason, they soon ask “where is Reno?”

Next -- I'll tell you about the fabulous Birthday Present Reno gave John...