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Mid Rivers Newsmagazine is St. Charles County's
exclusive direct-mailed community newspaper. |
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Restaurant Spotlight Archive |
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Sopranos Offers More Than Italian CuisineBy Mary Ann O'Toole Holley
If it looks Italian and sounds Italian, don’t be so sure it is Italian, at least at Sopranos Pizza and Pasta in O’Fallon. Sopranos, owned and operated by Jerry Benetatos and his wife, Monique, serve up a menu of entrees that stretch five pages. Though you will find mouth-watering manicotti, baked meatballs covered with marinara sauce and mozzarella and plenty of pizza and pasta, you’ll also find a collection of culinary treats that may seem Greek to you. Sopranos defies definition. Named not for the popular cable television show, but for Benetatos’ uncle — a Sopranos of Greek descent — the restaurant’s menu covers nearly all points of the world with items like their tempting taco salad featuring taco meat on a bed of lettuce topped with chips, salsa and cheese ($7.50) to the all American cold cut grinder, a New York sub with Genoa salami, pepperoni, capicola and ham ($6.25 and $8.25 for a foot long). Benetatos combines his passion for preparing the Old World Greek recipes with a love of Italian food carried with him since childhood as he worked in his family’s restaurant business in New York. “People come from all over the metropolitan area for our gyros,” said Monique Benetatos, his partner in life and in business. “It took me a while to find just the right recipe, but it has an authentic taste. Those who try them once, want to come back again.” Since Sopranos opened in September 2006, the comfortable, casual eatery has become a popular gathering place for friends and families and those in search of the unusual. If you’re looking for an unusual pizza, try the saganaki featuring shrimp, feta cheese, garlic and mozzarella ($10.96 and $16.95). If traditional Italian pizza tempts your taste buds, go for the gourmet “Butcher,” a pan or hand tossed pizza made with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage, bacon and hamburger ($13.99 and $21). “Jerry’s sister owns a pizzeria in Connecticut, so we borrowed some of her recipes and modified them,” Monique Benetatos said. “People marvel at our crust. One man came in and said he hadn’t had a pizza as good as ours since he left Chicago, and that was 20 years ago.” Sopranos serves pizza in a choice of three crusts: hand tossed, pan and thin crust. All are superb. Both Monique and Jerry contribute to the cornucopia of menu items at Sopranos. Ask Monique if Jerry’s the cook in the family, and she’ll say without a doubt. Ask Jerry, and he’ll say Monique is the best. Life at Sopranos is a close-knit contribution. Their twin boys, Jimmy and Joey, 16, and son Peter, 18, all help at the family business. “Joey’s on the grill, Jimmy’s doing pizza and Peter does it all,” Jerry Benetatos said proudly. “They all do really well in the kitchen.” Fresh from the garden, you’ll find Monique recommending the special salmon salad, served on a bed of fresh lettuce, sprinkled with feta cheese and topped with walnuts. She adds, however, that the ensalada de Sopranos is a huge seller with its combination of lettuce mix, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, red onions, feta cheese and grilled chicken ($8.95). Jerry Benetatos says he loves the taco pizza and the gyros sandwich, of course, but the hand tossed plain cheese pizza is also a winner ($10.95 and $13.95). Whatever you’re after, whether it’s a traditional “start up” like toasted ravioli ($5.25), homemade potato chips ($4.25), a burger ($6.25), or a calzone ($6.95) or stromboli ($7.50), Sopranos has most everything, and will make-a you a meal you can’t-a refuse. Visit Sopranos at 1266 Bryan Rd in O’Fallon, in the Hillman Farm Plaza; open daily from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. with extended hours Thursday through Saturday. Call 636-272-2321 to order carryout. Party platters are also available.
Sopranos Pizza and Pasta
1266 Bryan Rd. O’Fallon, MO Phone 626-272-2321 or 636-272-2341
Hours: Sunday — Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday — Saturday 11 a.m. to close.
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