Liverpool, N.Y. — The marinara sauce at Santangelo’s Restaurant in Liverpool is a thick red sauce with chunks of chopped tomatoes. It bursts with simple flavors of tomato and basil with a slight acidity. It clings to pasta as if it were hanging on for dear life.
In Isaac’s Platter ($21.99), it features prominently by providing cover to a variety of items in the sampler dish. A housemade ravioli was stuffed with creamy herbed ricotta cheese. The circular pasta pillow was massive, about as big as the palm of your hand. It was joined by a link of mild Italian sausage that was full of savory fennel and pork flavor, and a large all-beef meatball that was cooked in sauce before serving.
The platter came with a large serving of penne pasta and quite a bit of the water it was cooked in. We picked around that and the baked eggplant, which was tough and watery, as if the breaded vegetable was cooked from frozen. The flavor was fine, but the breading fell off quickly and it took more than the edge of a fork to split each piece.
Little has changed about Santangelo’s since it opened in 1986. The beige exterior and burgundy red sign is a recognizable landmark for regular drivers of Old Liverpool Road, for the past three decades. Dark woods, earth tones and rounded archways inside have been well cared for over the years, with the interior as much of a point of pride as the food.
Samuel’s Sampler is a warm appetizer that offers a taste of nearly everything on the starter’s menu. The clam meat often gets lost in clams casino as diners are overwhelmed with the bacon-bread crumb stuffing. Santangelo’s version revolves around the large hunk of clam at the center of the shell, which was complemented by the salty stuffing. Stuffed mushroom caps were full of the same sausage featured in Isaac’s Platter. The pair of mushrooms were topped with melted mozzarella and served in the same red sauce as two triangular chunks of fried mozzarella.
The star of the sampler was the lightest and airiest fried calamari we have ever ordered. The hand-breaded squid rings were so tender that it felt like there was nothing inside the crunchy breading.
The sampler was served with cups of cocktail and marinara sauces, as well as a hot pepper vinaigrette that blended sweet balsamic vinegar and spicy peppers.
Entrees at Santangelo’s are served with a choice of soup or salad. For an additional $3.99, we upgraded our cup of soup to the housemade pasta fagioli. At the base is a lively, thickened tomato broth with a flavorful blend of garlic, onions and herbs. It filled in the gaps between tender beans and ditalini pasta, which held their shape and resisted getting mushy. A hint of heat came at the end of each spoonful from the addition of crushed red pepper.
Marsala wine was reduced until syrupy and blended with mushrooms and stock to create the sauce for the veal marsala ($22.99). Two pan-fried veal cutlets were pounded thin, fork-tender, and picked up the flavor of the sauce adeptly.
It was served with a choice of side of penne in marinara sauce.
A side of Utica greens ($12.99 as a starter; $8.99 as a side) lacked the spicy, cherry pepper punch you might expect. Soft escarole was tossed with prosciutto, onions and garlic, and topped with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. All of the flavors were identifiable while working together harmoniously. We just missed out on the subtle heat from the peppers that makes this dish whole.
Santangelo’s housemade cheesecake ($8) features a thin, crumbly graham cracker crust and a hefty, dense brick of sweetened cream cheese. It’s a delight on its own, but during our visit was served with a warm apple pie filling. It tasted as it sounds with flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon along with chopped apples filling each forkful.
Service is warm and inviting from the moment you enter until you leave. Our waitress was conversational and regularly checked in on our table as if we were her only customer, even though she was covering six other parties.
Reservations for our Saturday visit were nearly full when we called on Wednesday. By the time we left, the lobby was packed with walk-ins waiting to be seated, a tribute to the restaurant’s longevity, reliability, and loyal customer base.
We spent part of our car ride to Liverpool trying to answer one question: When was the last time we ate at Santangelo’s? We guessed it was more than 20 years ago, but couldn’t quite pinpoint the year. Nonetheless, we made a note to not wait two decades before returning.
The Details
The Restaurant: Santangelo’s Restaurant, 673 Old Liverpool Rd., Liverpool, NY 13088; (315) 457-4447.
Reservations? Recommended.
Access to Disabled: There is a wheelchair cut at the entrance, wide doorways and plenty of room to move inside.
Credit cards? Yes.
Parking: Private parking lot.
Outdoor dining available? No.
Noise level: We sat in the bar area and the noise level was moderate to moderately high.
Special diets catered for? Vegetarian items are easy enough to find. Dairy-free diners can inquire about cheese being removed in some dishes. Gluten-free pasta is available, however there is no dedicated cooking or prep space.
Children’s menu? Yes.
Hours: 4 to 9 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday; 4 to 8 p.m., Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Cost: Pasta dishes are between $16.99 and $21.99. Most entrees are between $20 and $27. Dinner for two with drinks, starters, entrees, sides, tax and 20 percent gratuity was $130.29.
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