Inside St. Louis

You’d need to travel 738 miles by air to go from Madrid to Milan or 546 miles to get to Barcelona from Rome. But in St. Louis the distance from Spain to Italy is 0 miles as both of these great European countries meet under one roof at Guido’s Pizzeria and Tapas “On The Hill” at 5046 Shaw Avenue at the SE corner of Shaw and Hereford Avenue in the Fairmont addition. Don’t let the name fool you. Guido’s offers much more than pizza and tapas and whatever you select from the bill of fare will be authentic Italian or Spanish; you make the choice of cuisine. Oh, and I hate to break the news to you, but there is no Guido – never has been a Guido at Guido’s. The name was borrowed from the NBC Saturday Night Live character, Father Guido Sarducci, portrayed by comic Don Novello. Miguel Carretero opened the first Guido’s in ’88 at Morganford Road and Fillmore Avenue across from St. Matthew Cemetery in the Holly Hills neighborhood. In the following year a second location would open in the not yet “rediscovered” Maplewood on Manchester Road near Sutton Avenue where for 11 years they principally purveyed pizzas. There was also a location in Affton, near Gravois & Tesson Ferry Rd.

Then came the move into the current much larger spot on La Montagna (The Hill); the land of Volpi and Oldani salami, the Italian-American Bocce Club and where toasted ravioli was accidentally created 61 years ago at Oldani’s Steak House (now Mama Campisi’s). Toasted Rav is served as an antipasto at Guido’s along with several other items including cheese garlic bread, which is French bread dipped in butter, perfectly blended with fresh garlic, then smothered in Provel. And the soups, many of which are seasonal, are super, such as the must-have pureed Cream of Zucchini that’s ever so light and flavorful. Among others, all of which have never seen the inside of a can, is a rich and silky Lobster Bisque that’s tops in town and far less costly than elsewhere. Plus there’s a cool pureed Gazpacho Madrileño that’s a true customer favorite. Guido’s uses locally grown or manufactured ingredients when at all possible and with a big boost from olive oil they create light and simple home-made sauces as are served in homes in Northern Italy and Spain. This current Guido’s location has been a frequent dining and drinking destination for most of the years since it was built in 1924.

Today Miguel Carretero is in charge at Guido’s as he creatively controls everything from the kitchen to their patio dining. His father and mother, Segundo and Genoveva, are seemingly always there to lend a helping hand making it a true family affair - with the added assistance of 32 employees. Miguel, who was 2 years of age when his family moved from Spain to St. Louis, actually learned the art of cooking from his mother, many trips to Spain and the art of knowing quality fresh produce when he worked at Adolph Rhomberg’s tomato stand with Greg Rhomberg, creator of the Antique Warehouse. Regular customers such as David and Christina Alonso attest that the Spanish items are truly the real thing, or “comida casera” - home-style cooking as actually served in Spain. And they should know as David is from Madrid and Christina teaches Spanish at Notre Dame High School and is a frequent visitor to Spain. You won’t need a passport to enjoy dishes such as the traditional Spanish rice entree, Paella Valenciana. This is a steaming, large portion of saffron rice intermingled with fresh vegetables, calamari, chicken, shrimp, clams and mussels. There’s little resemblance to canned or dried Spanish rice. Another true treat is Solomillo al Cabrales which is tender beef tenderloin with a Spanish Blue cheese called Cabrales. It’s served with sautéed Spanish potatoes and a small house salad of lettuce, tomato and Provel. We suggest Guido’s perky vinaigrette dressing. This is the highest price dish on the menu at $19.95. The other platos fuertes (Spanish entrees) start at $12.95 for Albondigas Caseras con Patatas which translates to a taste tantalizing dish of home-style Spanish meatballs with onion, garlic and white wine. It comes with small salad and Spanish fried potatoes.

Segundo’s restaurant background is extremely rich, having worked in fine dining in places such as The Adventurer in Casablanca and The Jockey Club in Madrid in the early 1960s. He attests that the profession of being a waiter or restaurant captain in the old world is in general treated with more respect than in America. In ’64 and ’65 he was employed at the Spanish Pavilion of the World’s Fair in New York City. Then when the Fair ended, our Mayor, Alfonso Juan Cervantes, who was of Spanish descent, along with Chase Park-Plaza Hotel owner Harold Koplar, and others, bought the Pavilion and had it moved here where it was completely reconstructed at Broadway and Market Street. They even arranged for the staff of the Spanish Pavilion to come to St. Louis to add to the authenticity of the Pavilion as a tourist attraction saluting the Spanish heritage of St. Louis as well as offering venues such as the legitimate stage Sir John Falstaff theatre.

Segundo Carretero was part of that contingency but until the Pavilion was rebuilt he worked in food service at the Chase Hotel where dozens of employees had International backgrounds. When, with much hoopla, similar to that which accompanied St. Louis Center’s debut, the Spanish Pavilion opened with Segundo assigned to help direct their main dining room; The Toledo Room. After the Spanish Pavilion failed due to a general apathy by the public, it would become the lobby and first two floors of the Breckenridge Pavilion, now Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark Hotel. Koplar would move the Toledo Room theme to his Lodge of the Four Seasons at Lake Ozark, which is now operated by his daughter Susan Koplar Brown and her husband Peter. Segundo also worked at the revolving restaurant atop Stouffer’s Riverfront Inn and for 18 years he was a captain at Tony Bommarito’s Anthony’s restaurant in the Equitable Building, directly across from his old home, the Spanish Pavilion. A “Wall of Fame” at Guido’s offers several documents in honor of Segundo’s expansive career. You’ll need to be able to read Spanish for some of them.

Interestingly, the Italian and Spanish wines served at Guido’s, as well as those from other countries of origin, are from Tony Bommarito’s, A. Bommarito Wines. The exception is the Sangria that Segundo personally prepares from a hush-hush recipe. And by the way, that cool concoction actually is a good accompaniment to one of their St. Louis style thin crust pizzas baked in an old-fashioned stone oven. You can have yours with Mozzarella, Provel, Cheddar or a combination of the three. Guido’s has all the usual suspects for toppings, but also offers: Canadian bacon, salami, chorizo, broccoli, fresh basil, fresh garlic and fresh spinach. They also feature their “pizze specialti”, with three choices including a taco/fiesta pizza-pie. The pizza dough, or shells, comes fresh from Sam and Pete Vitale’s bakery on Marconi Avenue, formerly Cooper Avenue.

Then there is the tapas menu that has been one of the attractions for Guido’s since they opened almost 9 years ago. It offers a dozen cold items, tapas frias and 17 tapas calientes or hot selections. Tapas were created in Spain nearly two centuries ago when glasses of sherry were topped with thin slices of cured ham or chorizo. Three of our favorites are: the Gambras al Ajillo that combines shrimp sauteed in olive oil with thinly sliced fresh garlic and a hint of cayenne pepper ($6.95), the Tortilla Espanol, a traditional Spanish omelet of eggs, potatoes and onions ($4.25) and the Empanadillas which is two pieces of puff pastry stuffed with either tuna or chicken ($5.25). This latter dish reminds me of the fine fare served at yesteryear’s Empanada’s restaurant on Euclid Avenue across from the Forest Park Hotel.

On our last visit we felt the mood of The Hill and strayed to the Italian section of the menu and from the 12 items we chose baked Manicotti. One order of the cheese stuffed tubular noodles was served over a bed of rich and slightly spicy meat sauce while the other order was just as successful with a pink sauce. The orders were served steaming hot in metal serving dishes, and we topped them with grated cheese. It’s a good value at $8.50. On a previous visit we enjoyed the Cavatelli con broccoli that was prepared in a rich, white cream sauce with fresh mushrooms. It too was $8.50.

Guido’s offers many amenities such as an open and airy decor that seems to match the feeling of the dishes served. Lighting is comfortably bright and tall French doors overlook the sidewalk patio on Shaw plus there’s unobtrusive Spanish background music. White linen tablecloths with red cloth napkins pick up the red and white theme of the restaurant which has a sound absorbing floral patterned carpet. Posters and art objects mostly represent the Carretero family’s Spanish ancestry such as a bull-fighting poster from the Plaza de Toros in Madrid and the actual head of a Toro (bull), who must have lost a fight at the Plaza de Toros. This is one of but 3 or 4 such heads in the United States.

Henry Shaw, the man for whom the street on which Guido’s is located was named, would be pleased to see the floral efforts of Master Gardener, Segundo, that grace the front and side of Guido’s making this one of the more attractive alfresco dining spots on The Hill. As a matter of fact Guido’s was one of the leaders of the current outdoor dining trend. Hereford, the street that borders Guido’s on the west was named for Frances Hereford who married into the Sublette family, which is the name of another Hill street. William and Solomon Sublette were fur traders and part of the street named for them was once known as Blue Ridge Avenue. The Hill for many years was also called Blue Ridge, hence the reason Urzi’s Blue Ridge Market on Southwest was so named and why there was a Blue Ridge Bottling Company on S. Kingshighway just north of Shaw. It no longer houses a bottling firm, but the sign remains. The area was nicknamed Blue Ridge due to the haze that rose from the kilns of the terra-cotta works and from the Scullin steel plant that once lined the area south of Manchester and the railroad tracks from Kingshighway west to almost McCausland.

The bulk of the building that houses Guido’s was erected in 1924 but there had been other structures at that site dating to 1890. In 1891 it housed a meat market and then for a time in the first decade of the 20^th century it was used in part as a small storefront nickelodeon moving picture theatre. In 1918 Antonio Ruggeri had a saloon at that location and by 1923 the building housed both John Rossatti’s confectionary at 5046 and the Victor Macaroni Manufacturing Co. at 5048. Pietro and Giuseppina Ingrasci would build the current building designed by architect Theodore F. A. Unland for $10,000. In ’25 Charles Novaro would open a restaurant at the 5046 Shaw address and by 1930 the Bright Light Club occupied 5048. The building would have several owners between ’31 and ’35 when it was sold to Caterina Brusatti. The Brusatti Family would own the building until 1968. In the late 1930s David Brusatti and John Ponciroli operated a restaurant at 5048. Around 1940 the 5046 space was occupied by an outdoor advertising firm called Advertising Distributors, Inc., they’d be there until the late ‘50s. By ’44 Brusatti and Ponciroli would move the restaurant business to 3801 Watson Road. That location later became the Ruggeri-Rotty restaurant then Charlie Mittino’s Supper Club and today it’s Pietro’s operated by John Iovaldi.

It wasn’t until ’64 that the next food and drink related establishment, Frank Lo Piccolo’s tavern, would take over at 5048 Shaw. Then in late ’68 Frank “Cicco” Parino and partners would buy the property, build a one-story $20,000 addition and also totally redo the interior of the original building into a state-of-the-art operation called Giovannia’s Gourmet Italian restaurant. The establishment was to equal or exceed Tony’s, Kemoll’s, Rose’s and Andreino’s, then the upscale leaders in high-end Italian food. It would last under 3 years. Nick Lasarkis’ Nico’s restaurant would take over at 5048 Shaw in ’74. Then in ’78 it would be Vince and Rayjeana Ricotta’s Ricotta’s restaurant. By ’85 it was Bommarito’s restaurant, owned by Giuseppe and Anna Maria Bommarito. After having been shuttered for some time Guido’s opened at 5048 Shaw in 2000 and today the location is having its greatest success in some 84 years with Miguel Carretero and his family preparing a major remodeling and upgrading of the kitchen and first floor banquet room while adding private dining rooms on the second floor.

Contact Information	Guido’s Pizzeria & Tapas Restaurant – “On The Hill”
	5046 Shaw Avenue at Hereford Avenue
	St. Louis MO 63110
	314-771-4900
	www.guidosstl.com
Restaurant Hours	Sunday - Thursday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
	Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-12 midnight
Bar Hours	Monday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 1:30 a.m.
	Sunday 11 a.m. - 12 midnight
All major credit cards - Smoking section - Very accessible to all – Noise level is muted and peaceful