Papa Santi's - Bringing Little Italy to the East Side

Papa Santi's opened up a couple of month's ago in a small storefront on Chagrin Road across from Village Square (map is here).  From what I hear and after getting a pizza, Papa Santi's is a direct relation to Mama Santa's the much beloved heart of Cleveland's Little Italy (my review is here).  When I got a coupon for a medium pizza for $2 I had to check out Papa Santi's.  The transaction was easy and the pizza was hot out of the oven in 20 minutes, just as I was told. 

As soon as I got the pizza the Mama Santa's heritage was clear; Papa Santi's has a very similar look, with the pizza well cooked and the sauce, cheese and crust merging into a wonderful greasy gestalt.  I can understand how some will decide this type of pizza is either overcooked or just too greasy, but to me it hits my palate just right.  The medium is a good sized 13" size with cheese almost all the way to the edge.  The major difference I observed with the Papa Santi's pizza is the crust is thinner and flatter then Mama Santa's; the result is a crisp crust with a bit less chewiness.   Also while the sauces seem very close I would guess that Papa Santi's uses a bit less per pizza.  Of course since hand tossed pizzas are individual creations, this could just be that the pizza I got was a bit thinner and less sauce, the next one could be right in the sweet spot. 

Overall, Papa Santi's makes a very good pizza, and while not quite up to Mama Santa's standards, it is very close.   The prices are a bit higher, but Papa Santi's offers convenience for those on the East Side of Cleveland who want a pizza that is not a clone of every other pizza around.

Mama Santa's - Heart of Little Italy

Looking back over the past entries it is hard to believe that I haven't reviewed Mama Santa's, one of my late Dad's favorites. Located in the middle of Cleveland's Little Italy, at 12301 Mayfield Road, Mama Santa's has been dishing up very good Sicilian Italian food at incredibly reasonable prices for decades. As the rest of Little Italy has changed, with new restaurants, and even new digs for such old school places as Corbo's and Pristi's, Mama Santa's has remained the same, serving traditional food in a nice dimly lit restaurant. While the restaurant may not be a stunner, it has a certain old time charm. Instead of trying to get a retro feel, Mama Santa's has just kept the same decor through out its long tenure on the Cleveland scene, which is just the way it should be. Walking in today feels like it has since at least the 1970s when I was a kid, almost like going back to your parents house. The nice part about the decor is that it never was very trendy or hip to begin with, so that over time it has aged well. In addition to not changing the decor, the menu has pretty much remained the same for all those years as well. There have been some price increases, but even those have been few. Prices range mostly below $10 and the portions are good without being overly large. If you ask people in Cleveland about Mama Santa's there is almost always an argument about the pizza, some love it, others hate it. I fall on the love side, but understand the other side. The dough is thin, without being so thin that it cannot hold up the cheese, with a good crust around the outside. The sauce is obviously home made and has enough zip to keep things interesting, the cheese is a nice layer, and while it tends to end up a bit greasy, I personally like my pizza that way. Toppings are limited, to the classics: sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and anchovies. The one thing I will agree with most is that Mama Santa's does have a tendency to overook the pizza. Overall this is one of the most authentic and tasty pizzas you will find in the area. I especially like to pick one up if I am heading home from downtown at the right time. At $7.50 for a large it is a great deal and a welcome relief from bland middle of the road chain pizzas. The rest of the menu is fairly simple, with sandwiches, pastas (both regular and home made) and some veal and chicken entrees. My father loved the Veal Scallopini, nice sized pieces of Veal in a tomato sauce with onions and peppers. The pasta sauces are good traditional sauces, with real herbs and seasonings slow cooked into the kind of goodness that cannot be rushed. The food is served simply and tastes good, what more could you ask for. A couple of things to keep in mind; Mama Santa's is closed on Sundays and since they are at E.123rd and Mayfield, it is very difficult to find parking most nights. Despite that going there is a trip worth making, you will not find fancy decor or modern food trends, but you will get really good food, cooked well at very affordable prices. Mama Santa's is an especially good place to get a meal for East siders headed to or from Downtown.