I was hanging out in the hotel bar one evening when I was out in the Seattle area recently (shocker, huh?) talking with the bartender Stephanie. I told her that while I'm sure her hotel had great food, I was the kind of guy who liked to explore when I get to a city. She gave me a list of a number of restaurants in the area that she was familiar with. One was an old-school Italian restaurant that she said she remembered was better in previous years than the last time she was there. "But it's been a few years since I was last there, so who knows," she said to me. I was willing to give an old-school Italian restaurant a try, so I headed over to Angelo's of Burien in the nearby Seattle suburb of Burien.
Michele Ricci immigrated to the U.S. from Sicily in 1911. He ended up in a small Kansas town where he opened a grocery store. Michele's son Angelo grew up in the grocery business, but learned a lot about cooking from his father who made family feasts with recipes he brought over from Sicily.
Angelo eventually ended up in the Seattle area working as an engineer at Boeing. In 1957 with his wife Armella they opened an Italian delicatessen in the blue collar community of Burien about 13 miles to the south of downtown Seattle. Angelo and Armello served up meats, cheese, and sandwiches from behind their meat counter, while selling soda pop and mixers to people who would buy liquor at a store next door. Armella also sold wicker baskets - which were big at the time - hanging the baskets from strings from the ceiling because they didn't have the shelf space for them.
As Angelo and Armella's family expanded - eventually up to 8 children - so did Angelo's delicatessen. They put in a full kitchen in the 1960's and offered a plate of spaghetti with a side salad for $1.95. Angelo would make his homemade marinara and put them in jars to take to his co-workers at Boeing. The menu at Angelo's expanded to include more Italian items along with steaks, chicken and chops.
When nearby Southcenter Mall opened in 1968, a number of the small shops around Angelo's began to close up. When a shop would close up, Angelo's would expand into that space. Within 15 years of opening, Angelo's was 10 times the size of the original delicatessen. The liquor store next door? The Ricci family took that over and made it a banquet space.
Angelo eventually quit his job at Boeing to work at the restaurant full time. By all accounts, Angelo was a larger than life character who would sing as he delivered food to the tables. He would never allow a customer to order a steak well done and he never allowed a customer to put ketchup on a steak.
Pictured right - Angelo and Armella Ricci on their honeymoon. Photo courtesy Angelo's of Burien web site.
All 8 of the Ricci children - Mike, Mark, Ron, Richard, Phil, Kathy, Lisa, Larry and Frank - worked in Angelo's either in the kitchen or in the front of house. In 1976, Angelo Ricci opened a second location in suburban Bellevue, east of Seattle. His sons Ron and Richard eventually ran that location. Mark took over Angelo's of Burien when Angelo fell ill in the early 1990's eventually passing in 1993. In 2007, the youngest son Frank opened 909 Coffee & Wine, and later opened Burien Pizza next door. Today, the two Angelo's locations are run by various grandchildren of Angelo and Armella Ricci.
It was about 7:30 when I made the trek over to Angelo's located at the corner of SW 153rd St. and 6th Ave. SW in Burien. (see map) Parking in parts of Burien is not allowed in the street, but there are parking areas between buildings and the street. I was able to get a parking spot right in front of Angelo's.
I was greeted by a hostess who asked if I would like to sit in the lounge or in the dining room. She took me down a hallway toward the back of the restaurant and showed me the lounge. It was a dark and cozy room with a low-slug ceiling and televisions in the corner.
The bar was pretty small - it only sat six or seven people - and all the chairs were filled when I was looking around. I didn't exactly feel too comfortable as a single diner eating at a table in the lounge, so I asked the hostess to show me the dining room.
The dining room was a bit more inviting than the lounge and was better lit. Decorative sconce lighting on the walls helped brighten up the room. There are two windows in the dining room and I understand those were put in just recently. For years, Angelo's had no windows and it turned out that long time patrons were upset when the windows were put in. They weren't large windows, but it riled up some of their customers to no end.
The kitchen had open windows that looked out into the dining room. There was a small little alcove off to the side of the main dining room with some booths and tables. I looked in there and asked if I could sit at one of those tables. The hostess said it would be no problem and she gave me a menu when I sat down.
My server that evening was a lady by the name of Margie. And she looked like a Margie - outgoing, pleasant, and friendly. From interactions she had with other people seated near me, it appeared that she had been off-work for some time due to some health problems. She seemed happy to be back to work and to chat with some of the regulars who were glad to see her.
Margie came over to greet me and asked what I wanted to drink. I saw that they had the Space Dust IPA from the Elysian Brewing Company located in Seattle. Space Dust IPA is available in the Midwest and I've had it a few times in the past. Later on with dinner, I got a glass of the house Malbec wine to go with my dinner.
There were a number of off-the-menu specials that evening including a bucatini with ground sausage, mushrooms and red peppers in a light tomato sauce. That sounded pretty good to me as did the Seafood Angel Hair pasta dish with prawns and halibut with cherry tomatoes, spinach and corn topped with a white wine butter sauce. On the regular menu, they had a number of pasta dishes, as well as steaks, veal and chicken entrees. I almost went with the veal piccata, but I was looking for something along the line of pasta.
The pasta dishes were many and there were a lot of options for me to choose from. There was a penne bolognese dish on the menu, as well as cannelloni stuffed with ground beef, ground sausage and spinach. There was also a seafood cannelloni stuffed with crab meat, shrimp, mushrooms and spinach and topped with a cream sauce. I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted.
After I ordered my dinner from Margie, I got a small Italian salad that came with cubed parmesan cheese, slices of salami and a side of toasted house-made bread. The salad featured fresh lettuce greens and was topped with an oil and vinegar dressing. Nothing special, but it was still good.
I couldn't make up my mind between two items on the menu - the beef ravioli with a marinara sauce, or the beef tortellini in a cream sauce. I really like ravioli, but it had been a long time since I'd had beef tortellini. Margie said, "I can split it half-and-half for you." I was sort of amazed that she would do that. She said, "Sure, I can do anything. We'll make it work for you."
And that's how it came out - beef ravioli with a marinara on one side, and the beef tortellini on the other. The marinara sauce was a rich and hearty gravy that covered the ravioli pillows filled with beef. The tortellini didn't quite have as much of an alfredo cream sauce as I would have liked, but it still looked pretty good.
But it turned out that it wasn't. The tortellini was sort of "meh!" It was dry and the tortellini was a bit overcooked. It wasn't all that great. The beef ravioli was fine, I thought the sauce was a bit drab, but it was better than the tortellini. I was glad I was able to try both, but the ravioli was much better than the tortellini. And the ravioli was just all right.
For an old-school Italian restaurant, Angelo's certainly fits the profile. Margie was a great server - accommodating, friendly and a bit sassy. The atmosphere was cozy and warm, but the food fell a bit short of expectations. They must be doing something right if they have been in business for over 65 years and seem to have a devoted clientele. But I wasn't all that enamored with the food I had at Angelo's of Burien.
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