First Taste: Antonio’s Cucina Italiana

(Credit: VATO/Special to Metromix)

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Antonio's Cucina Italiana

For 45 years, the Rugiero family have been inviting guests into their kitchens with the promise of fantastic food, sensational service, affordable prices, a clean atmosphere and lots of love. Spend a little time at Antonio’s, and you’ll feel it everywhere -- love of the ingredients, the food and for family.

The backdrop for Antonio’s Cucina Italiana of Canton began in 1964 with Dearborn’s Roman Village restaurant. Having come from Italy, Rita and Antonio Rugiero’s dreams began with a pizzeria, eventually evolving into a full-service eatery. The family business grew along with their sons, Anthony Jr, Patrick, Marco, and Robert, with Antonio’s establishments in Dearborn Heights, Farmington Hills and the latest in Canton (with 280 employees between all four locations).

Consistency and tradition are the cornerstones of the culinary philosophy at Antonio’s. Entrees are cooked the way ma’ made ‘em, (as Anthony Jr. says). The sauces, the pastas, the preparations are his mother Rita’s recipes from beginning to end. She even has a sauce named for her – the Rita sauce – a pancetta-and-mushroom blush sauce.

The menu pulls from the north and the south of Italy, and can be generalized as central Italian fare (with a Florence influence). But, don’t confuse its broad appeal with a casual approach to cooking. Items are made with passion and dedicated labor. At night, in the “pasta factory,” variations of pasta are being made fresh daily. Varieties include spaghetti, angel hair, linguine, mastaccioli, cavatelli, fettuccini, and the Antonio’s signature gnocchi (potato dumplings).

Other housemade pastas entrees include a choice of ravioli (meat filled, topped with a meat sauce, cheese filled, topped with a tomato sauce, or Florentine spinach and ricotta topped with a cream sauce with sundried tomatoes), stuffed shells (shell-shaped pasta filled with mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan cheese, baked in tomato sauce), and lasagna (meat or vegetarian).

Gluten-free pasta options are available as spaghetti or ziti with choice of sauce.

Those interested in non-pasta choices can choose from a large list of entrees, including chicken dishes (parmigiana, cacciatore, scallopini, marsala, and “Antonio”), or seafood choices (including shrimp scampi, and broiled salmon).

Antonio’s also offers several veal dishes, served with milk-fed Provimi veal, such as veal parmigian (veal cutlet topped with mozzarella, baked in a wine and tomato sauce), veal marsala (veal cutlet sautéed in a sweet marsala wine sauce with mushrooms), and veal picatta (thin veal sautéed in a lemon-pepper and caper sauce).

A full range of pizza choices are available as well as panini subs (direct from the Roman Village manu) and calzone options (steak and cheese, chicken and cheddar and pizza).

Room for dessert? There’s probably always room for that, right? Choose from Italian favorites like cannoli, tiramisu, cheesecake, or profiteroles, or select from 22 flavors of house-made gelato.

Antonio’s of Canton seats approximately 400 inside the restaurant (70 on the patio) and is well suited for banquets and parties. The “Rita Room” seats 150 guests, and can be split into the “Rita East” (seating 50) and the “Rita West” (seating 90). For a special event, you can rent out the “Ammici Room”, boasting a 64” LCD and seating up to 20 guests.

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