Sam Santangelo Sam Santangelo converted an old Shell gas station into a homey Italian restaurant in 1986. (Eliana Rosen/Eliana Rosen)
Maria DeSalis spent the Sundays of her childhood eating a big Italian dinner with relatives. Her family’s Liverpool restaurant recreates the nostalgia of that time.
“It’s like going home to my grandmother’s house when we were kids,” said DeSalis. “It’s not just a restaurant. This is our home and I treat it like you’re coming here and having dinner at my house.”
Sam Santangelo, her father and the family’s patriarch, opened Santangelo’s Restaurant in 1986, with his wife Sally, converting an old gas station into a homey Italian restaurant at 673 Old Liverpool Road.
Now DeSalis, her husband, Michael, and her brother, Guilio Santangelo, own and run the restaurant, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
DeSalis and Guilio Santangelo are two of eight siblings, all of whom have worked at the restaurant in some capacity. Four members of the third generation currently work there. Some days, five or six Santangelos can be found in the kitchen at once, Sally Santangelo said.
Santangelo Family From left, Michael DeSalis, Maria DeSalis, Sally Santangelo, Fina Santangelo and Guilio Santangelo stand in the dining room of their restaurant. (Eliana Rosen/Eliana Rosen)
The family was no stranger to the food service industry before opening its own restaurant. For 15 years, Sam and Sally Santangelo owned a bowling alley down the street. Rather than traditional bowling alley grub, bowlers came to expect homemade Italian food, like lasagna, pasta and fish.
Sam was also known as a local physical education teacher; he bought the bowling alley and started cooking and catering out of the venue while still teaching. He always wanted to open his own restaurant and after selling the bowling alley, it was the right time.
“His ties were cemented to the community,” said Sally Santangelo. “When we found the property, we decided to take advantage of his notoriety and his reputation.”
Then 21, eldest sibling Guilio Santangelo helped his father build the restaurant: An aspiring architect at the time, Guilio drew up the designs for the restaurant himself. He mixed the concrete; his father laid the blocks.
“[My father] and I fought every single day,” he said. “I got fired every single day. I wouldn’t leave.”
Maria DeSalis was 15 when her father opened the restaurant. She said she never expected she’d be running the restaurant one day. As hostess, she is also the face of the restaurant, a role she took over from her mother.
When Santangelo’s first started, they had just enough for first and last month’s rent on the building, Guilio Santangelo said. There were a few strong years, then business slowed. The restaurant’s original partner fired nearly all the Santangelo family members. After facing financial troubles, the family regained control and built the restaurant back up. Guilio Santangelo and Michael DeSalis took over the kitchen. The restaurant was their passion, and they weren’t ready to let it go, Santangelo said.
The few years after Sam Santangelo’s 1999 death were another struggle for the family and the restaurant, Maria DeSalis said. They knew they had to keep it going, though, she said. The beauty of Santangelo’s was having family together.
Dinner at Santangelo’s Restaurant, Liverpool, N.Y. The house Italian sausage at Santangelo’s Restaurant, Liverpool, N.Y. (Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gmail.com) (Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gmail.com/Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gma)
Maria DeSalis and Guilio Santangelo both credit the restaurant’s longevity to its consistency. They try to balance new, trendy items with classics like their sauce and meatballs. The menu is a mix of family recipes from DeSalis’s grandmother, Sam’s bowling alley and new signature entrees Michael DeSalis and Santangelo have created.
Twenty members of the Santangelo family each have their own item on the restaurant’s menu, from the Amanda-Rin Orange Salad to Addie Ala Vodka Sauce and Stuffed Veal Raymo. Each person’s dish corresponds to their favorites, Guilio Santangelo said. Sam’s Cake is a dessert Sam popularized when he was in the catering business.
Santangelo’s Menu Guilio Santangelo points to signature entree “Chicken DeSalis,” named after his sister and brother-in-law. (Eliana Rosen/Eliana Rosen)
Syracuse.com food critics named Santangelo’s a finalist in the 2018 Best of CNY Italian restaurant contest. The restaurant is often named as a top pick in the CNY Readers’ Choice Awards from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. Santangelo’s also had a winning streak in the local March Meatball Madness competition.
Rather than have one big anniversary party for the recent milestone, the restaurant celebrated for an entire week in September. Maria DeSalis decided it would be impossible to make a guest list; she didn’t want to have to choose who could come and who couldn’t.
Instead, the family spent the week serving food as they always do, with extra time to share memories, look at old photos and reminisce on four decades of the restaurant, allowing customers to celebrate with them. The community at Santangelo’s has become a kind of extended family, DeSalis said.
Michael DeSalis said while he likes cooking, the best part is talking with customers and seeing them enjoy the restaurant.
Santangelo Family The Santangelos stand outside their family restaurant on its 20th anniversary. This year, they celebrated 40 years. (Eliana Rosen/Eliana Rosen)
Generations of families share memories of the restaurant, young children sitting where their great- grandparents dined 40 years before. Families sing for first birthdays at the same booths where they celebrated engagements and graduations. When the DeSalises’ grandson was born, customers came up to congratulate Maria and asked to see pictures.
Some regulars come in two times a week, others a few times a month or just once in a while. The family makes a point to know them all.
A customer lovingly referred to as “Boston Joe” stops in when he visits the area on business. He tells them he can’t find homemade ravioli like theirs anywhere else.
Santangelo’s Restaurant Customers dine at Santangelo’s on a Wednesday night. (Eliana Rosen) (Eliana Rosen/Eliana Rosen)
“Even people that I haven’t met before, I will quite often find a reason to sit and chat and find out where they’re from,” Sally Santangelo said. “People feel that kind of friendship. They know we’re family, so they know that the family’s going to take care of them.”
The restaurant also hosts events, like an annual Christmas tree lighting, to bring the community together. The 35-year tradition began with 20 people each putting their own ornament on the tree. Now, 120 patrons fill the patio each Christmas.
“It’s not just the food, Guilio Santangelo said. “It’s about the customers being a part of something.”
Working with family can be difficult at times, Maria DeSalis said. Most family time, including over the weekends and holidays, is spent at the restaurant. While they have some squabbles, everyone has the same goal for the restaurant’s success.
“There’s a different type of hospitality to family-owned restaurants,” Michael DeSalis said. “I hope we can hold onto that, what makes us different.”
While she hopes to see the restaurant thrive for a long time, Maria DeSalis said she tries not to think too far into the restaurant’s future and focuses on today. She’s sure her dad felt the same way, wondering which of his children would continue on the legacy.
“I just tried to continue on with what he would want,” Maria DeSalis said. “I think he would be really proud of what we’re doing.”
Santangelo’s 40th Anniversary Santangelo’s Restaurant hosted a week-long celebration of its 40th anniversary rather than one big party. (Eliana Rosen/Eliana Rosen)
