Santasiero’s
You wouldn’t know it by my last name, but I am mostly Italian. I grew up on Italian food--pasta and meatballs every Sunday. So I take my Italian food very seriously. Over the years I’ve driven by Santasiero’s countless times. But it was only a few weeks ago that I tried Santasiero’s for the first time.
I went for takeout and ordered eggplant parmigiana, one of my favorite Italian dishes. I also wanted to try their meatballs and sausage, so I asked for two of each in a container of sauce--a request that a friendly employee was happy to accommodate. The eggplant parmigiana was tasty. The sausage was the best I had eaten in a long time, and contained just the right amount of kick. The meatballs, dare I say, were just like grandma used to make. As for the sauce, I would rate it as being very good.
In order to try a few more dishes, my wife and I dropped in on a Saturday evening. I tried the Pasta Santanesca, a heaping dish of penne, tomatoes, black olives, onions, and garlic. The waitress warned me there would be a lot of garlic, and she wasn’t kidding. How much garlic? I’ll put it this way: Garlic is supposedly good for the heart and if that’s true, my ticker is in great shape. I really liked this dish, and definitely recommend it.
The bill came to $24.75--the Pasta Santanesca, the goulash that my wife enjoyed, and a half carafe of Lambrusco (I know, not exactly a wine drinker’s wine. I’ll never be mistaken for a wine connoisseur). There was plenty of food leftover, which we enjoyed the following evening. I added artichokes to the Pasta Santanesca, which give it a nice twist the second time around.
Much to my chagrin, we live in a world filled with chain establishments (perhaps you’re familiar with the quasi-Italian one that offers unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks, along with unlimited forced ambience). Places like Santasiero’s seem fewer and farther between these days. I’m glad that I am now a customer of Santasiero’s, a no frills place with an interesting family history (check out www.santasieros.com to read about it). Overall, I’d say that Santasiero’s has charm, character, history, and most importantly, good Italian food. My kind of place.
Santasiero’s
1329 Niagara Street, Buffalo, 14213
716.886.9197
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Comment Options
rb66
Santasiero’s is my favorite Italian Restaurant. It's one of many Buffalo jewels. Long live Santasiero’s !
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needles
The "Pasta Fasoola" dish is one of my favorite dishes.
It's not to be mistaken with your traditional pasta e fagioli soup, it's actually a pasta dish LOADED with pasta and beans. It's a must try!!!!
Todd,
Anch'io sono Italiano senza il cognome! (I'm also Italian w/o the name! (with rusty Italian))
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scooter
Oh my god. I frickin love this place.
Great food. Cheap. Great service.
Get the chicken parm. You wont' finish it. $7.
I think they've been making there sauce in the same pans since 1927!
No better italian rest in the area. It aint fancy......but it's GOOOOOOOOD!
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rb66
When I hear Billy Joel's "Scenes From An Italian Retaurant" I always think of Santasiero's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGqgZgdkzoc
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NorPark
My parents used to take my bro and I here every sunday evening for dinner on our way back from canada, i have great memories of this place. I have not sat down for dinner there in many many years, however I still occasionally get take-out from there. The sauce is 2nd to my mothers, but their meatballs are second to none. I hope this place stays going strong for many many years to come.
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BackInBuffalo
I'll take a carafe of Lambrusco poured into grandma's juice glasses over a foof-tini from Olive Gargantuan anyday! (With a side of peppers!)
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lebowski
Super, now the place is going to be mobbed and I'll never get a seat. Can't we keep some things secret around here? Big fan of the chicken parm, santanesca, peas and pasta. Everything is great. The waitresses are super, just like family. And the bread! Piled high and it keeps on coming.
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ToddS
BackInBuffalo, great call about the juice glasses. I cracked up when they showed up at our table. Loved drinking wine out of little glasses. lebowski, i almost mentioned the bread in my article. Six slices -- most of which were dipped into my Pasta Santanesca.
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tonyarmani
be great to see many more restaurants like this drive the olive gardens out. italian chains are a disgrace
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scooter
This is why I hate BRO.
This article forced me to eat lunch here. I'm stuffed. I can't move. I've accomplished nothing at work the rest of the day. My boss is yelling at me for being lazy.
I blame this on BRO.
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r129
And remember... no coffee!
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SBUBfloBoy
Just had a group of out-of-town folks (downstate Italian-Americans) at work a couple of weeks ago and they were told to go to a "famous" Italian restaurant that I won't name for good Italian food. A few of us at the office who know better and are of Italian descent ourselves encouraged them to ditch that place and go to Santasiero's instead because all of us knew that the other restaurant is just a lot of hype and that Santasiero's is the real deal.
Needles, agree 100% about the Pasta Fasoola. It is great.
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mdc
Any real Italian knows you drink wine out of juice glasses. Go to any bar in the old country. No fancy wine glasses.What is important is the liquid inside. Since I am at it, the Italian Festival on Hertel is not really an Italian Festival . It is a street fair that is an embarrassment to my Italian culture.
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Deliking
We eat there often, both the Eggplant Parm and the Pasta Fasoola is good, the Italian Village has better red sauce, John tries harder to be accommodating. Serving coffee or tea would be a plus and a italian desert selection is really needed. For those who like it the way it is, too bad they didn't enjoy it the way it was.
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sbrof
ohh the Italian festival is exactly what it is meant to do. Celebrate Italian AMERICAN heritage. It isn't meant to be some pretty Disney festival about what it means to be Italian because most of Italy isn't the clean, nice place you see on the discovery channel. The Italian festival is about americanized Italian street meat. Without new real immigrants it can and shouldn't be anything more than that.
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Biniszkiewicz
sbrof: most of the Italy I've seen (I've been there four times, stayed in people's homes and seen much of the country from Lago di Como to Trieste to Sicily) is indeed quite clean and very nice. The food is almost universally fantastic, not like the cheap southern cuisine we Americans think of as 'Italian' food. I don't have any Italian blood in me, but I'd be offended by your remark if I did.
The Italian fest is much more American than Italian, I'll give you that. It's pretty lame, none the less.
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Deliking
The Italian Festival is about making money, little real Italian food is served and Italian Heritage is not not best served Americanized. My point of view is, that the only good thing about the Italian Festival is the assemblage of old friends who may happen to be Italian or who has associated with Italians.
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Darlene_Carlo
My husband, who is Italian, tells me all the time that my sauce is the best he's ever had, but we BOTH
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Darlene_Carlo
My husband, who is Italian, tells me all the time that my sauce is the best he's ever had, but we BOTH have to admit that Santasiero's is better! Those other, more expensive Italian restaurants in Buffalo are over rated. They've got nothing on Santasierro's. The pasta fazul is wonderful and their sauce is the best. I've been going there for 30 years and it's consistently great!
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Darlene_Carlo
My husband, who is Italian, tells me all the time that my sauce is the best he's ever had, but we BOTH have to admit that Santasiero's is better! Those other, more expensive Italian restaurants in Buffalo are over rated. They've got nothing on Santasierro's. The pasta fazul is wonderful and their sauce is the best. I've been going there for 30 years and it's consistently great!
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