When I was growing up, it was a real treat to have lasagna for dinner.
And it still is, now that I am all grown up.
Lasagna from Papa Joe’s in Cuyahoga Falls has been our traditional family feast for Christmas Eve since we moved to Greater Akron just over two decades ago.
But as a kid, we were pretty much a meatloaf-and-potatoes kind of house.
About as adventurous as we got when it came to international cuisine was the occasional spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.
And, to her credit, my mom did make her own sauce − well, sort of.
Unlike my Italian buddies’ homes, where making sauce was an all-hands-on-deck, all-day affair, the sauce of my childhood consisted of my dear mom cracking open a jar of Prego, adding a 4-pound bag of sugar, some sweet basil, and a pinch of this and that. In hindsight, she should have added some insulin for good measure.
Still, in my mind, there’s nothing more comforting than a delicious homecooked Italian meal.
So it was a real treat to visit Guido’s in the heart of downtown Ravenna for dinner recently.
A great sign at Guido’s − aside from the fun retro neon out front − was the steady stream of customers heading inside, even in the middle of the week.
Thankfully, most were there for take out.
The dining room is rather small, with just 13 tables in a couple of rooms.
The menu − available for both dine in and take out − has all the classics you would expect from a family-owned Italian place, from pizza and chicken to sausage sandwiches and linguine with white or red clam sauce. About every other item was identified as “Guido’s own” or “homemade,” which made them sound even more not-to-be-missed.
For example, the house Italian sub − dubbed the “Big Joey” − sounded very tempting.
But I was here on a mission.
Word on the street was that the lasagna at Guido’s is made from scratch daily, and that includes a sauce that is the bomb.
So that’s what I ordered.
The lasagna is offered daily but, lucky for me, on this particular day it was one of the dinner specials. So, for $14.99, I got a slab of lasagna that filled most of my plate (and my appetite), along with a side salad.
It all lived up to its hype and the portion was a generous enough that it made for a special lunch the next day.
My wife, Jennifer, was a trooper and kept to our unspoken pact inaugurated many moons ago that we wouldn’t order the same thing when we go out.
We firmly believe in sharing, and it’s worked out handsomely for the better part of three decades.
On the recommendation of our friendly and knowledgeable waitress (who, it turns out, also is a manager), Jennifer ordered the cheese ravioli with meatballs for $13.99.
It, too, did not disappoint. Six fluffy, 3-inch raviolis filled with soft ricotta were accompanied by two tender, homemade meatballs and that delicious sauce.
Another highlight of the meal was the warm, sesame-seeded bread that preceded our entrees. Talk about comfort food.
It is baked special for Guido’s and, quite frankly, could be a meal in itself.
We certainly didn’t need it, given that we took half our dinners home, but we were intrigued by the pizza, which also is made entirely from scratch. So, we ordered a large pie ($18.99) with sausage on one half and pepperoni on the other.
It takes about half an hour for the pizza, but − like everything at Guido’s − it was worth the wait.
The dough retained the slight sweetness of homemade bread, and the house-made pizza sauce was as fresh and tasty as its pasta-sauce counterpart. The crust’s slightly imperfect scalloped edges served as a pleasant reminder that this was no factory-made, tastes-like-cardboard base.
The toppings are cooked under the cheese, making it somewhat unique from your typical pizza shop.
Green beans in a tossed salad?
The real surprise came at the start of dinner when our house salads were brought to our table.
I thought there had to been some mishap in the kitchen.
There were a couple of cooked green beans in each salad, hidden among the generous selection of lettuce, red and yellow pepper chunks and tomatoes, and tucked under the freshly shredded mozzarella cheese.
We asked our kind server what the deal was with green beans in the house salads.
I was expecting some great back story about how the family ancestors were green bean farmers, or that green beans were a sign of good luck, or perhaps one day the Green Bean Fairy visited the kitchen and the rest is history.
But alas, the explanation was just that they’ve always put green beans in the salad because it simply tastes great.
We would agree.
With a generous dousing of the very yummy vinegar-and-oil house Italian dressing green beans, even the tomato in my salad was tasty.
A bit of history
Guido’s has been serving generations of hungry fans in Ravenna since 1966.
But it can trace its roots and even recipes to Augie’s Pizza on the corner of Emery and Green Roads in Warrensville Heights.
Guido’s sister and her husband owned Augie’s and shared the closely guarded family recipes for the sauce and dough so he could open his own pizza shop in Ravenna.
Guido’s of Ravenna is now owned by Guido’s son Sam Cipriano, and they still use the original recipes from his aunt Mary and uncle Augie.
They estimate that they cook up some 10,000 gallons of sauce and fold some 67,000 pizza boxes over the course of a year.
The motto for Guido’s is that it is a place where “people come by choice and not by chance.”
I will be back, as I’m already hungry for more lasagna, and it is not even Christmas Eve.
And my next choice will be to try the meatball subs.
