Anthonino’s Taverna – on The Hill – St. Louis, Missouri
Anthoninos Taverna – featured on Diners, Drive-In’s, and Dives – 2012, located on The Hill at 2225 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110 – Phone (314) 773-4455.
Owned and managed by two brothers, Anthony & Rosario Scarato, Anthoninos Taverna is Italian and Greek. Their father is a first-generation Italian-American, and their mother is Greek.
Their accomplishments thus far are: voted “Best Italian Restaurant” in RFT’s “The best of St. Louis” 2011 – voted the “Best Toasted Ravioli” in RFT’s “The Best of St. Louis” – 2012, and voted the best pizza on The Hill. Best Pizza on The Hill is quite an accomplishment considering their competition.
We met with Anthony on Tuesday, April 8, 2014; he is kind, professional, and all about business. These guys are serious, and while they have accomplished a certain respectable level of success, they are still trying to achieve their goals; to be the best Italian/Greek eatery that they can be. Obviously, not driven by money, fame, or fortune, but by making people happy and owning a local restaurant that its customers appreciate.
Quality of food is their top priority! Smart! They will be expanding the restaurant in the next few months, which will double its current size. While there is a bar, a bar atmosphere is not what they are creating – a great eatery is their primary objective.
Their most significant accomplishment was featured on the popular Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives in 2012. The show has assured their destiny to even further heights of success. You can’t get any better advertising than by having Guy Fieri visit and film his show, Diners, Drive-In’s, and Dives, at your restaurant establishment. When that happens, you know you’re doing things right.
In addition to their TV fame, their reviews should be the envy and goal of every restaurant owner- Food Network 5 Stars – Google 4.6 Star – Facebook has 5,465 Likes, with more than 2,000 visitors giving it a 4.5 Star – Urbanspoon 91% – foursquare 8.8/10 – gogobot 5 Star – yelp 4 Star – Yahoo Travel 5 Star and Tripadvisor is a 4.5 Star rated #12 out of 2503 restaurants in St. Louis, MO.
The high ratings seem to be never-ending. We disagree with the Urbanspoon and yelp ratings. Anthoninos Taverna deserves a 4.5-5 star, in our opinion.
However, we do not provide ratings or stars; we publish our opinion of either recommending or not recommending an establishment and the reason. These brothers have it right; their priorities are in the proper order – take care of business, and business will take care of you. If you visit Anthonino’s Taverna, your visit will be appreciated and respected. Family is what this place is all about. From an Italian/Greek background, their order of priorities and family tradition will assure these brothers success in whatever venture they take in life, but that has been determined.
We want to thank Anthony for taking the time to meet with us. We hope our review helps attract attention to their fine establishment, not that we can compete with Guy Fieri, but we hope it helps nonetheless. Therefore, we RECOMMEND Anthoninos Taverna and congratulate Anthony, Rosario, family, and staff on creating and maintaining such a unique establishment that is truly an asset to the community and city.
This review is NOT paid advertisement. It is unbiased and published based on the opinions of the St. Louis Restaurant Review. While we interviewed Anthony, he provided us with information but did not influence our opinion or writings.
St. Louis Restaurant Review writes and publishes the reviews at its own expense and is not paid by the restaurants for reviews.
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