Cleveland's Oldest Restaurant Is Truly Old-School Italian - Tasting Table

"Anyone who knows Cleveland knows its dining scene is always more than what meets the eye. Lurking underneath unassumingly quaint restaurants is a rich history spanning decades, and in some cases, maybe even a whole century. Some of the best restaurants in Cleveland are neighborhood heirlooms, where deeply rooted traditions and generational stories are preserved in every dish. Nowhere else will you find this more than at Guarino's. Crowned as the oldest restaurant in Cleveland, this old-school Italian restaurant is a culinary time capsule."

"It all began in 1898, when Italian immigrant Vincenzo Guarino moved from Sicily to Little Italy in Cleveland, Ohio, and eventually opened a tavern on 12309 Mayfield Road. In 1918, with the help of his wife Mary, he remodeled it into a restaurant. Mary's extraordinary cooking helped Guarino's achieve rapid, widespread success - and she became lovingly referred to as Mama Guarino."

"In 1954, Vincenzo Guarino passed away, and the business was passed down to his son Sam, who then left it to his wife Marilyn and lifelong friend Nancy Phillips in 1987. To this day, the business is still run by members of the Phillips family. They dutifully took over the mantle from their predecessors with a commitment to honoring the restaurant's core value of serving good-quality traditional Italian food."

Guarino's opened in 1898 in Cleveland's Little Italy when Sicilian immigrant Vincenzo Guarino established a tavern, which became a restaurant in 1918 with his wife Mary. Mary's cooking, home-grown vegetables, and homemade wine served in coffee cups during Prohibition fueled widespread success and attracted diners including Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Ownership passed from Vincenzo to son Sam in 1954, then to Marilyn and Nancy Phillips in 1987; the Phillips family still operates the restaurant. Sam redecorated in a Victorian-esque style in 1963, and original features remain, including strings of beads hanging from the bar ceiling. The family preserves serving good-quality traditional Italian food.

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