santaniellosconstruction

Major Bar Expansion & “New” Owners at Santaniello’s Restaurant & Pizzeria

santaniellosconstruction

When it comes to matters of the heart, Valentines Day actually arrived a day early this week for a couple of hard-working restaurateurs. Raffaele and Rosanna Santaniello completed the deal Wednesday to purchase the restaurant where they have worked side by side for more than 13-and-a-half years. The brother-sister team that has been at the helm of Santaniello’s Restaurant & Pizzeria on Glenlord Road for years became the sole owners of the popular restaurant, pizzeria, bar and banquet facility which is currently in the throes of major renovations to dramatically expand the bar side of the restaurant. They purchased the restaurant from Anna Santaniello who started the place more than 50 years ago with their father, Pasquale.

When Raffaele, more affectionately known as simply Ralf, and Rosanna knew that the wheels were churning on the transition from Anna they embarked on a full-tilt expansion of their wildly popular restaurant, and especially the bar side of the house where every Thursday through Saturday night for the past five to ten years it has not been at all uncommon to find people four deep along the bar and spilling into the dining area of that side of the house. That was becoming unsustainable as too many people were walking in, feeling overcrowded, and turning themselves away.

In a couple of months that will all be just a memory as the two recently erected a temporary back wall to the bar bordering on the facility’s banquet space. Behind that wall, magic is underway to dramatically enhance the bar. Ralf says the new expansion is fully 1,000 square feet, and while it cuts into the banquet space, the meeting hall can still handle parties up to 175 people going forward.

That means that fully 55 new seats along a sleek new granite topped bar and at high top tables peppered throughout the two-tiered expansion will increase the capacity nicely. All new matching bar stools will line the full length of both the new and old bars as well as along one wall of the upper level of the expansion. A dozen new 55-inch flat screen TVs will populate the walls of the new space plus a giant screen 75-incher on one wall.

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The new space will feature the exposed duct work of an urban, industrial feel, and a full surround-sound system is being installed. As with the existing bar, there will be 24 new taps behind the new section of the bar out back.

Contractors and friends have helped remove a bank of windows in the banquet hall and a new overhead garage door will be installed along the midpoint of the new side wall where some of those windows were. That will allow a wide open expanse in good weather to bring the outside in and in the inside out onto an expanded patio section.

Ralf says that as a result of the expansion he will also add some bar-type, finger food items to the menu going forward and they will experiment with lunch hours on Saturdays and Sundays to see what the demand will be.

The work continues unabated on the expansion and Ralf has voiced extreme thanks for an outstanding cadre of good friends including Jeff Priebe, Joe Schwartz, Vic Frazier, Gene Fowler, Matt Mantei, Kevin Bushu, and Ken Tollefson who have pitched in and/or are providing services on the huge makeover plan. He says, with reverence in his eyes, “It’s crazy how these folks are just great friends doing what friends do for one another.”

When the new section is ready, the existing bar top will also be replaced with gray granite to match, as well as a full line of new bar stools to match the expansion set.

Planning for the project started after they were already in the process of taking over the business from their mother, Anna who gets to retire and move to Florida. Rosanna says, “She was finally ready to turn things over,” and Ralf notes, “It’s something we’ve wanted to do — buy the business — for the last ten years or so.” Both are “extremely grateful to the heritage of mom and dad along with sisters who helped start the business before us, and were it not for them, we wouldn’t have all of this.”

Rosanna says, “It’s exciting times! I don’t know if Ralf can work any more, but he’s going to have to work more and I definitely, when we open, will be behind that bar with a whole new staff for this part of the bar.” She tells me they are actively recruiting now for roughly five or six new team members for both the front and back of the house who can start about a month before the new space is ready.

Santaniello’s will add some capacity to the banquet kitchen to help speed things up in the bar area. They already have two kitchens in house, but with the expansion Ralf says they are, “Likely adding a new pizza oven to speed things up and help handle the new menu items,” and adds, ” Not only do we need more equipment but we need help so if you want to work here call Rosanna at 269-757-1045.” Wait staff, back of house, bartending, and other positions are under consideration.

Ralf is gratified by not only his friends and acquaintances, but adds, “We’ve dealt with a lot of good people for this project including Edgewater Bank, where Rick Dyer has provided a ton of help, Vic Frazier on electrical work, Smitty’s Heating & Cooling, and more.”

With a target for opening around the end of April, Ralf admits he will take the first two weeks of that month to go on vacation and “clear my head, and recharge the batteries” for the anticipated rush, and “then it’s go time.”

Recognizing that its a lot of work, Ralf says, “When you find folks four deep at the bar, and you can barely walk through the space, this just makes sense. We’ve gotta move with the times, man! This is what people want.”

Anna Santaniello was a 17 year old immigrant from Italy who wanted to learn English when she arrived in America from a small town north of Naples with Pasquale who came from the south of Rome. They created a legacy that lives on in the talents of Ralf and Rosanna, and now it is their’s to continue the tradition.

Don’t let the construction keep you at bay. The team at Santaniello’s reminds you that all operations are go as the new construction is behind a temporary barrier and does not impact service at all. They welcome you on this Valentine’s Day and every day, as always. You’ll find them at 2262 W. Glenlord Road in Stevensville, their home for the last 50+ years.