Dan says…
Everybody needs a place like Leonoro’s on Washington Street. It is an old fashioned Italian restaurant where you are welcome to come in the back door and walk through the kitchen. The owner will greet you with a smile everytime. This place is full of familiar faces.
Their menu is simple especially for lunch. They have salads and sandwiches, but 90% of people order the “Lunch Special”. The special includes spaghetti, a house salad and Italian bread for $8.75 with meatballs and $7.50 without. You can also order from a variety of noodles including cheese ravioli. Drinks are a painful $1.75 and bring your total above $10 before tip. Ouch.
The service is quick. Apparently once you start working at Leonoro’s you never quit, because the same servers have been there for years. The decor is simple with booths around the edge and tables in the center. You seat yourself and the regulars seem to have assigned tables. The place had cleared out after the lunch rush and I watched a couple wait for “their” table to be cleaned. The walls are covered with family photos from several generations.
I give Leonoro’s – Four Forks!
Phil’s Review
I have to say I normally don’t like tomato based sauces without a little meat put into the mix. However, Leonoro’s is one exception to this rule. I still supplement the sauce by ordering meatballs when I go, but I would still find the meal filling without the meatballs. As for the meatballs, they are my favorite because they are never too bready, but neither are they too meaty, they’re just right. I also think their thousand island is exceptional and even the salad is both consistent and fresh every time I go. The service is fast (relatively speaking) and the restaurant is consistently clean.
The only thing remotely negative about the food, is that the spaghetti is served a little more than al dente, which would make the meal perfect. Warning, you will leave this restaurant feeling full and as if you ate too much. I rarely have room left for their bread, after devouring the plate full of spaghetti.
If you’re an amateur spaghetti spinner or you just like clean white shirts, you can even get a bib! (or you can cheat like me and just slice the spaghetti to reduce the splash factor of the sauce!) Although the cost is on the high side, I have to give Leonoro’s four forks.
I also recommend considering them for dinner as I’ve also called in a ‘to go’ order for pickup on my way home. By the time I get there from the Capitol the order is waiting.
1507 Washington St E
Charleston, WV 25311
(304) 343-1851
8 responses so far ↓
ron // June 4, 2008 at 7:01 pm |
“everyone needs a place like Lenoroe’s” yeah just like everyone needs a place like the Shoot-N-Go next door. This place is great if you like chipping your tooth on the stone like bread. It stinks
Daniel // June 4, 2008 at 8:04 pm |
Did you really chip a tooth?
LAL // June 9, 2008 at 11:17 am |
Best Italian food ever! The sauce is awesome. The meatball are awesome. I house salad dressing is awesome. And I even love the tooth-chipping bread. The lunch special has gotten a little pricey over the years, but it’s still worth it for me. I don’t eat pasta very often, so when I do, I go to Leonoro’s because it’s THAT GOOD!
D. Mae // July 18, 2008 at 10:48 pm |
I love this place, and go there especially when I need some comfort food. The price is the only complaint; dinner for 2 (pasta, bread, salad and drink) is well over $30.
Susan // July 19, 2008 at 8:56 am |
I was not with the gang when they went to Leonoro’s so I didn’t get to put my two cent’s worth in. It’s been killing me.
I agree with D. Mae – I like their food (and I like the crusty bread, Ron) I just think it’s too expensive. With the upcharge to get them to toast my bread (which is the only way I like my bread), my total is over $10 for lunch.
The one time I went for dinner, I was with a group of dressed-up family members who had been there before. I felt like I had been transported into a maffia movie when I saw the waitress tying a bib around one of the men at the table. There’s service and then there’s just….weird.
I like their sauce but the pasta is always overcooked. Once I got the “house” dressing and it was a strange tomato mixture so now I stick with Italian.
I never suggest it as a lunch destination, but I never veto it, either.
Travis // February 9, 2009 at 12:28 pm |
Our server tied big paper bibs around our necks which was great because I did not have to worry about getting sauce on my shirt.
Didier // December 4, 2009 at 8:24 pm |
A third of a loaf of Wonder Bread, a limp salad from a bag, and sauce right out of a jar from the supermarket, and all for $28.00, with water to drink, excluding tip.
Seriously, buy a can of Chef Boyardee, a bag of salad, and some white bread, and save yourself $24.00.
It had been 20 years since I’d eaten at Leonoro’s even though I’ve lived in Charleston for 26, and now I remember why I never went back.
My wife’s “meat sauce” was identical to my marinara with the exception of a teaspoon full of meat.
Don’t waste your money.
Daniel // December 4, 2009 at 8:36 pm |
This is true. I will not deny it, but I still like it. It’s just simple place to get fed.