GIanetto's Pizza & Pasta

When I saw an Italian restaurant attached to a gas station on 331 in Granger, I was skeptical to say the least, but one step into Gianetto's and you will forget that you are anywhere near a convenience store. The restaurant was tastefully decorated with Italian movie posters ranging from Il Padrino to Via col Vento to Fantasma Ill'Opera to Il Mago del Oz; frankly it was refreshing to be in an Italian restaurant whose decor didn't revolve around the overused, and ever stereotypical little fat man in a chef's hat with a mustache. Along with movie posters in Italian, you will travel back in time through pictures of Italian Americans that look to be from the turn of last century; Gianetto's has been around for over thirty years, and truly pays homage to the immigrants of the late 1800's who gave their food it's roots by mixing traditional Italian food from home, with new American ingredients. We started our meal with comfort food taken to a whole new level; french fries smothered in meat sauce and mozzarella cheese! I am not a big tomato eater, and generally only eat tomato sauce on pizza, but this meat sauce was tasty and the "meatzarella fries" is such a great concept for an appetizer. We split the appetizer between 4 kiddos and 4 adults and at $6.99 we each got enough to whet our appetites. I also enjoyed a pre-meal salad, and while it was just your typical iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots, the homemade croutons and Italian Vinaigrette were some of the best I have ever had, and took this salad to the next level! My sister in law was pleased to find that Gianetto's offers a personal Chicago style stuffed pizza, and tells me that it is reminiscent of Giordano's and Gino's East. 

 I love Italian beef as well as Italian sausage, so seeing them both on one sandwich sounded like a dream come true! The sausage was delicious, and I am sure they made it in house, the beef was a bit on the dry side, which would have been remedied by the au jus, however it was too spicy for me to even eat, which was a bummer, because dipping an Italian beef is my favorite part of the sandwich!  At just under $9 you definitely get enough meat for this sandwich to be worth the cost.

My hubby is a HUGE cheese lover, so the cheesy baked spaghetti caught his eye, and it definitely had enough cheese to suit this man who can never have too much cheese. His biggest complaint with this dish is that the marinara sauce did not stick to the pasta and ended up just being soupy in the bottom of the dish. He also said that he preferred the meat sauce we got on the fries to the marinara on his pasta, so if you order pasta, go with the meat sauce! His portion was huge, and at around $10, he got enough food for at least one more meal, if not two.

Gianetto's Pizza and Pasta is serving food that has stood the test of time, they have a rich history in the South Bend/Mishawaka area, and are definitely worth a try. I know that I am anxious to get back and try some of their pizza!