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For locals, dining at Scannicchio’s Italian Restaurant, 2500 S. Broad St., is like dining at home. Well, at home with the whole family.
“Practically all the workers, except for one or two, it’s all family,” Christian Varalli, chef and co-owner of the best Italian restaurant winner, said.
Varalli, along with Michael Gibson, took home the gold in the three additional categories of BYOB, dessert menu and chef. With Varalli’s brother Marc at the front of the house, his fiancée Chantel and son Christian Jr., as hostess and server, respectively, and his parents in various roles, Gibson’s daughter and sister help to round out the crew that make a night at the Marconi establishment feel like a Sunday dinner at Nona’s.
“People come for stuff they grew up with, stuff like stuffed artichoke and tripe,” Varalli said of the regional Italian fare. “They’ll come and pass on a salad and get something that they just really, really like and come back often.
“And [they like] the fact that they can take a bottle of wine and enjoy their dining on things they’ve been eating through their childhood. And I try and stress that we need to hit those things well.”
In addition to the “labor-intensive” favorites on the main menu such as stuffed calamari and artichoke, the dessert menu garnered a win, Varalli thinks, for some of the popular orders such as bread pudding and cheesecake.
“We usually try to have one to two bread puddings a week. One of our best is chocolate, peanut butter and banana [bread pudding] and homemade ricotta cheesecake. The cheesecake is my mom’s recipe,” he said.
In addition to mom Maryann’s desert, on the menu is grandma Mae Menta’s meatballs, something the recently turned centenarian perfected long ago. Indeed, the recipes have been passed through the years as Varalli’s father, John, opened the original Scannicchio’s in Atlantic City in 1978.
“We opened this location in 2003. But I worked with him in Atlantic City a lot through childhood and a lot of summers,” Varalli said. “I spent 15 years in the front of the house and then the past nine years in the kitchen, so it has been a nice change of pace.”
Varalli knows the success of the restaurant is dependent on the concert of help he gets from the family to his two sous-chefs as well as Gibson, a lifelong friend, with whom, Varalli said, exists a seamless understanding of how to run the place.
“I think everybody has disputes and days everything is not perfect, which is normal,” the chef said. “It also has a good correlation with the way things are done and respect. Everyone knows their job and that is part of what makes the restaurant work and a success.”
Ristorante Pesto garnered second-place victories in all four categories.
L’Angolo Restaurant drank up third for toting along your own beverages.
The bronze medal for Italian restaurant went to Ristorante Tre Scalini.
The readers gave both Fuel and Melrose Diner sugary nods for a third-place tie for dessert menu while Fuel also rounded out the best chef category.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
2012 Readers’ Choice Award winners
Cuisine
Fuel: Soup; Hummus; Lunch menu (sit down); and healthiest menu
Geno’s Steaks: Cheesesteak
PrimoHoagies: Hoagie
John’s Roast Pork: Pork sandwich
SliCE: Specialty pizza
Penrose Diner: Diner
Ippolito’s Seafood: Seafood selection
Scannicchio’s Italian Restaurant: BYOB; Italian Restaurant; Dessert menu; Chef
Cantina Los Caballitos: Ethnic restaurant (non-Italian)
Birra: New restaurant
Night on the Town
South Philadelphia Tap Room: Craft beer selection
Popi’s Italian Restaurant: Celebrate a special occasion
Chickie’s & Pete’s: Friday happy hour; Bar menu; French fries
Sweet Tooth
Termini Bros.: Cannoli; Cookies
Italiano’s Water Ice: Water ice
Caffe Chicco: Iced coffee
People
Barbara Capozzi: Civic leader
Dr. Steven Moskowitz and Dr. William Mestichelli: Dentist
Johnny Looch: DJ
D. Olivieri Jewelers: Jeweler
Rev. Joseph Kelley: Priest/minister
Dr. Gail Avicolli: Principal
Sports
Carl Arrigale: High school coach
Neumann-Goretti Saints: High school team
St. Monica: CYO program
Mike Schmidt: All-time pro athlete
Antonio "Scoop" Jardine: Local current college athlete
And the Rest …
Mummers Parade: South Philadelphia tradition
East Passyunk Avenue: Shopping center/district
Headhunters Hair Design: Salon
Roast beef sandwich: Category not on this list
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