All in the family

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After coming in second last year, Ristorante Pesto, 1915 S. Broad St., has climbed to the No. 1 spot for BYOB and romantic dinner.

“I’m thrilled,” Concetta Varallo, who serves as co-owner and hostess at the East Passyunk Crossing restaurant, said. “There’s so many new restaurants opening up [and] so many restaurants in general in South Philly. It’s like the restaurant capital of the world.”

While Pesto was a BYOB when it first opened in 2003, it has a full liquor license since Varallo moved the license from the now-shuttered Io E Tu Ristorante a few years ago. The restaurant has a limited wine list, but hasn’t stopped customers from bringing their own.

“People come in with full cases of wine, and we let them go,” the resident of 22nd Street and Passyunk Avenue said of guests holding parties at the restaurant.

As for its romantic side, Varallo complimented the spot’s décor, spacious four-room layout that allows for some privacy on weeknights and the hospitable staff that tends to patrons’ needs.

“If I have to say anything about Pesto, it’s family,” she said. “We treat everyone like family.”

And the restaurant is a family affair with her husband (and co-owner) Giovanni Varallo and daughter Maria Varallo-Facenda in the kitchen, daughter Gianna as a waitress, daughter Christina as a bus girl and grandson Giovanni, 3, learning to set the table. And Varallo, who personally answers all calls to the restaurant as they are forwarded to her cell phone, vows as long as the restaurant is open, family will tend to it.

“We don’t just leave it to other people because we care about it,” Varallo said.

For BYOB, Scannicchio’s poured in second while L’angolo Restaurant sipped in third. Scannicchio’s also romanced second, and Le Virtù kissed third for romantic dinner.

Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.

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