Ravanelli's Restaurant

Mario Ravanelli came to America from Bergamo, Italy in 1949 at the age of 24, worked in St. Louis as a dishwasher and line cook through the early 1950s, married Rose in 1953, and opened the original Ravanelli's storefront in 1957 with savings from both their families. The early years were difficult - Granite City in the late 1950s was a working-class steel town with few diners willing to spend on a sit-down Italian meal - but Mario's St. Louis-style red sauce, hand-rolled pasta, and personal warmth at the host stand slowly built a regular crowd. By the early 1960s the Madison Avenue location was packed every Friday and Saturday night, and the Ravanellis began saving for the larger purpose-built restaurant they would open in 1971.

Mario ran the dining room and Rose ran the kitchen from 1957 through 1995, when their son Joe took over both. Joe expanded the menu, added the bar, and brought in his wife Marlene as the pastry and gnocchi specialist - Marlene still arrives at the restaurant at 5am every morning to roll the day's gnocchi by hand on the same wooden boards her mother-in-law used. Joe and Marlene's son Tony took over the front of the house in 2009 and the full operations in 2017 when Joe semi-retired. Tony is now the third generation to run the restaurant and has carefully maintained the family recipes while modernizing the wine list, the reservation system, and the social media presence.

The Ravanelli family is at the restaurant almost every night. Tony works the floor; Marlene supervises the kitchen and rolls the gnocchi; Joe, semi-retired, often stops in for the evening service and walks the dining room shaking hands. The combination of three generations actively involved in the operation gives Ravanelli's the kind of family-restaurant warmth that has become rare in modern dining. Returning customers - and many of them have been returning for decades - are typically greeted by name at the door.

Begin with the toasted ravioli, which Ravanelli's claims to have brought to Granite City and which has been on the menu since 1957. The beef-filled ravioli are hand-breaded, deep-fried until golden, dusted with parmesan, and served with the house's long-cooked marinara for dipping. The portion is generous - a full order is two dozen, a half order is a dozen - and most tables order the full order to share. The fried mushrooms and the calamari fritti are the alternative starters; both are excellent but the toasted ravioli is the choice the regulars make without thinking.

For mains, the homemade gnocchi is the consensus first choice and the dish to order if you have never visited Ravanelli's before. Marlene's gnocchi are pillow-soft, hand-rolled from a recipe that has been in the family since 1957, and served with a choice of sauces - the classic marinara, a creamy gorgonzola, a meat sauce, or a brown-butter-sage that is the most underrated dish on the menu. Beyond the gnocchi, the veal piccata is the meat-dish standard, the lasagna is the heavy-eater's choice (a six-layer construction served in its own oval gratin dish), and the eggplant parmigiana is the vegetarian standout.

The pizza menu is worth a separate visit. Thin-crust, hand-tossed, with a slightly sweet long-cooked sauce and a generous mozzarella blend, the pizzas at Ravanelli's are some of the best in southern Illinois. The sausage and onion is the consensus first choice; the Italian beef pizza, with sliced beef, mozzarella, and banana peppers, is the local specialty. For dessert, the cannoli are filled to order and the spumoni is the classic, but the genuinely showstopping option is the housemade tiramisu, which Marlene Ravanelli has been making for more than 40 years from her own mother's recipe.

Ravanelli's is busy. Friday and Saturday nights routinely fill to capacity, with waits of 45 minutes for walk-in tables not uncommon. Reservations are accepted by phone and through the website and are strongly recommended for parties of any size on Friday and Saturday. Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday are quieter, and walk-ins are typically seated within 15 minutes. The bar room is first-come, first-served and is a comfortable place to wait if you have not made a reservation; the full menu is available at the bar.

The restaurant is closed on Mondays. Hours run Tuesday through Thursday 4pm to 9pm, Friday and Saturday 4pm to 10pm, and Sunday 4pm to 8pm. Lunch is not served. Reservations open at 4pm and the last seating is typically 30 minutes before closing. Parking is free in a large lot on three sides of the building. The dining room is wheelchair accessible with a single-step entry that has a ramp. Children are welcome and the kitchen will modify portions for kids, though there is no separate kids' menu.

Practical tips: the Ravanelli family appreciates patience with the gnocchi - because every order is finished to order with the chosen sauce, gnocchi take 15 to 20 minutes to come out, longer on busy nights. Order them first and accept the wait, or order pasta dishes that move faster from the line. The wine list is short but thoughtful, with an emphasis on northern Italian reds that pair with the heavier dishes; the house Chianti is the safest order if you do not want to study the list. The restaurant accepts all major cards and cash; tipping is standard 18-22 percent for sit-down service.